The Comedy of Errors
by Erratta
Summary: Fourth in the Spirit Quintology. A new school year. A new job. Unsettling coincidences in the lives of Team Phantom and those around them. Two lives getting very complicated, very quickly... REWRITTEN
1. New Beginnings

**The Comedy of Errors**

**Chapter 1: New Beginnings**

_I don't own Danny Phantom, The Catcher in the Rye, "Ride of the Valkyries," or Men in Black._

Danny Fenton ran down his front steps on a clear September morning while trying to get his arm into his jacket and eat a slice of toast at the same time. It was the first day of grade eleven, he was ten minutes behind schedule, and for once it hadn't (technically) been a ghost.

He quickly realized that even a full-out run wouldn't get him to school on time and dove into an alley. After a brief flash of light, Danny Phantom, Danny's ghostly alter ego, was airborne and accelerating towards the school, mentally cursing himself for not thinking of this sooner. He arrived at the school just as the warning bell rang and turned back to human in the janitor's closet nearest his locker. He burst out, adjusting his backpack, and hit a thin, balding man he didn't recognize. They both blinked at each other for a moment, and then Danny mumbled an apology and slipped past him, red-faced.

A black-haired, black-clad girl approached him at his locker and smirked.

"Smooth entrance, Danny."

He glared at her, but not very angrily. His clumsiness was a constant source of amusement for the goth, mostly due to all the embarrassing and awkward situations he found himself in because of it. He didn't want her gloating on top of everything else today.

"Bad morning?" the girl, Sam Manson, asked sympathetically.

"No. It was _perfect_, except for having to hold my _intangible_ _father_ for _half an hour_ so he didn't _sink into the ground_." He dumped the contents of his bag into his locker, grabbed a few sheets of paper and a pen, and slammed the door. "Where's Tucker?"

"Doing recon on Faluka. He's the new vice-principal."

"_Great_. Now, what class do I have again?" He pulled a crumbled paper from the pocket of the khakis he'd bought after his growth spurt that summer and studied it. "English. Guess I'll be meeting Lancer's replacement first thing."

"I've got biology," she groaned. "See ya at lunch!" They parted ways just as the second, and final, bell for class rang. Danny cursed under his breath and sped up.

He entered the English classroom a minute later and stopped dead, as did the thin, balding man standing at the front of the room introducing himself. The man spoke first.

"Ah. So _you'd_ be Danny Fenton, would you?" The man's tone of voice suggested that he'd already heard a lot about the black-haired boy and most of it wasn't good. Add that to his recent collision with Danny, and it was obvious that the ghost-boy had started out on the wrong foot. Danny groaned internally.

"Uh, yes, sir. I forgot my combo. Sorry."

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Just _sit_."

Danny sat and tried to pay attention to the preliminary lecture about expectations and behaviour, but he soon found his mind wandering. He jerked to attention when a novel was dropped unceremoniously on his desk, and the rest of the class laughed at his reaction. The teacher glared at Danny, who pretended to look at the book in interest. _The Catcher in the Rye_. Joy. His sister, Jazmine, loved it, which meant that it would probably be filled with "meaningful themes" and "real-life issues."

_I can't wait_, thought Danny. _Hey! Maybe she'll tell me the plot so I won't have to read it!_

Jazz, as she was known to everyone, was starting her first year at Yale, majoring in psychology. Danny had spent the weekend helping her move into her dorm room and trying not to lose his lunch from his father's driving. She'd promised him that she would still play a supporting role in Team Phantom via e-mail, and Danny was comforted by the thought, despite his memories of the first time she'd tried to help him fight ghosts. Jazz's psychoanalysis of the spirits he fought had proved invaluable over the last year, after he told his parents his secret and Team Phantom had doubled in size. Outwardly Jazz was a somewhat reluctant participant, but Danny personally thought she enjoyed it. He'd never had the guts to confront her about it, though.

Team Phantom was the name Danny had given to the network of ghost hunters that he was the main public front for. It had expanded greatly over the two years that Danny had been half-ghost, and now included Jack, Maddie, and Jazmine Fenton; Sam and Tucker, the original Team; Valerie Gray, a former enemy of Danny's; and William Lancer a.k.a. Will Spirit, a ghost hybrid who had been created a little less than a year ago and who used to be an English teacher at Danny's school.

Danny's mind eventually wandered back to the lecture, where the teacher was explaining the basic themes of their first novel. He forced himself to pay attention for a while, but then began daydreaming again. Finally, the class was over and Danny stood up with the rest of his classmates, pulling his schedule out of his pockets. He didn't have a chance to glance at it, though, before the teacher spoke.

"Danny, may I have a word?"

The sixteen-year-old approached the desk at the front of the room nervously. The man leaned on his desk and looked at him.

"I had a visit from your old English teacher this weekend, Danny. He told me about your situation."

"He did?" The question came out too high-pitched and Danny fought to regain his composure. He knew Lancer hadn't told his new teacher about Danny's _real_ situation, so he needed to know whatever lie Lancer had come up with. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Lancer might do something like that.

_Gee, thanks, Will. Coulda warned me,_ he thought, slightly miffed, then continued aloud with a tense, "What did he tell you?"

"That your parents are ghost hunters and take you out with them almost every night to carry on the family business, so you don't have a lot of time for homework, or sleep for that matter." The teacher sighed. "He asked me to be lenient with you, and I will be, within reason. I _do_ expect assignments to be turned in and for you to at least _attempt_ to stay awake in my class, however. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mr. uhhh..." Danny realized he didn't know the man's name.

"Spears," the teacher provided scathingly. He continued, "I also want you to know that I can sympathize with you, having parents obsessed with something that doesn't exist. It must be really tough for you to humour them."

Danny sighed. _Might as well get him used to the idea before someone attacks the school. _

"Ghosts are _real_, sir. I've seen them."

Mr. Spears raised his eyebrows. "So, loyal to your parents even behind their backs, eh? I expect they're very proud."

"They are, sir. I caught a ghost last night, without any help." _Yeah, last night and almost every other night for the last two years..._

"Really." It was clear that the English teacher didn't believe him.

_Oh well_, thought Danny, _guess he'll learn the hard way like everyone else. _"I'd, uh, better get to my next class, Mr. Spears. Thanks for supporting me."

"Not so fast, Danny. You have study hall. In this room. With me."

_**Crud.**_

Someone in the doorway yelled, "Danny!" and the boy in question turned to see a tall African-American boy wearing a red beret come into the room. The newcomer continued with "You're in my study hall? Sweet!" and high-fived Danny. Then he noticed the man standing by the desk and offered a hand.

"You must be Mr. Spears. I'm Tucker Foley, a friend of Danny's."

"I gathered that," Spears said flatly, looking at Tucker's hand in distaste.

Tucker looked questioningly at Danny, who said, "I think he's been warned about us. We'd better claim our seats before someone else does."

Tucker and Danny went to the back of the class where they would be out of earshot and safely ignored once more people entered the room. They sat down and held an animated but whispered discussion as the classroom gradually filled.

"What's he been told?"

"I get dragged out every night by my parents to go ghost hunting. He's obviously heard stuff about us from the other teachers too, but I don't know what. How was the weekend?"

"Pretty quiet. There was a duck at the lake, a pig at that butcher's shop downtown, and Desiree made a cameo again. Spirit got her ten minutes after she got out. You?"

"Jazz went ballistic trying to get everything organized in her room, Dad used the Fenton Sprayer to look for ghosts and ended up getting Jazz's bedding soaked, they all had a big cry, no one there seems to think we're too crazy, and I gave Jazz the Box Ghost as a goodbye present."

"So _that's_ why we didn't see him this weekend. She is seriously gonna kill you," Tucker added jokingly. Danny grinned.

"I know. He" Danny indicated Mr. Spears, "doesn't believe in ghosts, by the way. Thinks my parents are deluded."

"Five bucks says that doesn't last the day."

"Deal." The boys shook on it as the bell for class rang. Mr. Spears got up from his desk and began role call. Halfway through, Danny began "coughing" and a fierce wailing began to come over the PA system.

"_Ride of the Valkyries_! What is that noise?" yelled the teacher.

"It's the ghost alarm system!" someone cried. "We have to evacuate."

Even though he seriously doubted that there actually was a ghost in the school, simply because ghosts didn't exist, Spears still knew the protocol for alarms and was quick to enact it. He centered himself and announced in an even voice, "All right, everyone, please stay calm and follow me in a orderly fashion."

The students obeyed and he led them outside, where they formed a group near the front steps. Spears looked around for Danny, figuring that he would be most likely to know what was going on. He couldn't find the boy anywhere and when he thought about it, Danny had been missing since they left the classroom. He must have gotten separated from the group in the hallway. Spears went over to Tucker instead, as the second-best bet.

"What happens now?"

"The local ghost hunters should be here shortly to deal with the ghost," the boy told him. "All we have to do is stay here and wait." _And cover for Danny, as usual. I wonder who it is this time._

"I take it this is routine?" the teacher asked.

"Yes sir," Tucker answered. "At least once a week."

"Once a _week_? Isn't that a little excessive for drills? Surely everyone knows how to deal with an 'attack' by now?" Spears' voice was rich with shock and panic. Tucker let out a resigned sigh.

"The alarm only goes off when there _is_ an attack, sir. It's to keep us safe. We don't have drills."

"Are you trying to tell me that there's a ghost in the school right now?" Spears asked incredulously. _And that ghosts attack this place on a regular basis? As if I'm ever going to believe that line. Does the _whole town_ believe this nonsense?_

"Ye- no. It's left the school now. See?" Tucker pointed to where a bulky grey figure had just been thrown out of the building onto the roof. Spears squinted at it. He'd never seen anything like it before, but the black figure that followed it was definitely humanoid, even though it looked like it was floating above the roof.

_Trick of the light, _Spears thought._ That's impossible._

The black "ghost" successfully dodged a round of blasts from the other figure while firing some of his own back, and everyone watching the fight cheered. A few girls who Spears assumed were in the A-list due to their clothing started chanting "Phantom, Phantom" and soon almost everyone in the crowd had joined in, including, he noted in amusement, a few of the teachers. Spears looked around for Tucker, only to realize that he too had disappeared. Now in a slight panic because he was losing students right, left, and center, he did another role call, much to the disappointment of his students. Danny and Tucker seemed to be the only people missing.

Spears forced himself calm again. _All right, let's hope Tucker went looking for Danny, then. Nothing to worry about._

Tucker _hadn't_ gone looking for Danny, since he knew that his friend was floating above the roof of Casper High fighting a ghost. He was still helping Danny, however, as he had recognized the ghost his friend was fighting as Skulker and knew that the quickest way to defeat him was to hack into the PDA in the ghost's arm. Tucker had gone a little ways from the crowds and was now about to upload a command to the ghost. He pressed a button and a moment later the larger ghost stopped firing and was seen to deflate, at least as much as a metal robot was able to do so. Then the ghost zoomed away from the building and Phantom dusted his hands dramatically. Again, the crowd cheered. Tucker simply grinned and returned to the crowd. Danny, meanwhile, disappeared above the school, flew down to behind a tree near the picnic tables, and changed back to Fenton just as the ghost alarm turned off. He ran to join the crowd heading back into the school.

_Gotta remember to thank Mom again for rewiring that alarm to ignore my ectosignature. That's going to make my life so much easier now, 'cause I can slip off during evacuations without looking suspicious._

Danny made it back into the classroom slightly before Mr. Spears, but not too much before that the teacher would get suspicious of his whereabouts during the attack. Tucker came in a moment later and Danny muttered, "Thanks" as the technogeek took his seat again. Then Mr. Spears returned, looked puzzled at Danny's presence for a moment, and then began to explain his classroom policies again while the class drifted off into thoughts of the ghost attack. Since it was the first day of classes and there therefore was nothing for the students to work on, the thin teacher suggested that everyone share something about themselves so he could get to know them better. Everyone groaned, because they'd had to sit through activities like this for as long as they could remember.

After the first few rows had explained about their pets, favourite bands, and family, it was Tucker's turn. He put out a bored "I'm a technogeek" and turned the floor over to Danny, who quickly answered, "My parents hunt ghosts," since it was common knowledge to everyone in the room and so didn't betray anything about him. Spears kept cycling through students until he reached the end (it didn't take long) and then decided he should share something as well. Something that would hopefully make him seem less of a "teacher" and more of a "person" in their eyes.

"My parents claim to have been abducted by aliens."

The statement was greeted by a succession of questions ("What did they look like?" "Like out of _Men in Black_?" "In a UFO?") that Spears patiently answered, immediately regretting the decision to tell that particular fact. This class was not giving the reaction he normally got, which was to poke fun at his parents and similar "conspiracy theorists." He even thought he heard someone mutter, "Ghosts are cooler," but couldn't figure out who. Finally the bell rang and he could dismiss the class. He looked at Danny again as the boy was leaving and shook his head. Just as he'd heard, the boy was a mystery. He hadn't completely bought the story William Lancer had told him, but wasn't going to pry. Whatever the boy's real issues were, they had to be big if a _teacher_ would hide them from a colleague, so Danny wouldn't want Spears to get involved.

---

At lunch, Danny and Tucker finally met up with Sam again at "their" table and started comparing stories of the morning. The boys described Lancer's replacement to Sam, who didn't have him until second term. They had a laugh that Spears would have been grateful for over the aliens thing, and warned her that the man didn't believe in ghosts. Danny also filled her in on the cover story that Lancer had come up with, so she'd be able to stick to it if questioned. Then Sam started ranting about the list of dissections she'd be doing in biology, and that led into Tucker being berated for his meat-heavy diet. Danny stopped the fight by getting them to compare their timetables for the afternoon, and it turned out that they shared history, and that Sam was in Danny's P.E. class. Then the bell rang to end lunch and the trio headed off for history.

---

Meanwhile, William Lancer was sitting in his small office on Main Street, staring out his window at the cars passing by below him and trying to get his thoughts organized. Today was the first day of his new job as head of the Educational Division of Amity Park's Ghost Education and Information Support Team, and he had no idea what to do, despite having two months in which to think about it and giving the mayor the idea in the first place.

_Well_, he admitted to himself, _that's not _entirely_ true. I've got the basic ideas for a lot of programs, I just have no idea how to enact any of them._

It was Lancer's responsibility to make people aware of the ghosts and the threat they posed to the town and to create a sort of harmony between the two groups, so that there wouldn't be panic as there had been. Essentially, all this was just an extension of the P.R. work he'd done for Danny as partial payment for the lessons on ghost powers, but now it was on a much larger scale. That was where he ran into problems.

Finally, he decided to write a list of ideas to see if there were any he could flesh out.

_**Lectures on ghosts in general (and powers)**, _he wrote

_**Lectures on the most dangerous ghosts specifically. **_

_**Pamphlets explaining procedures for ghost attacks. **_

_**Talks by the Fentons on their work and research. **_

_**Getting kids to meet the friendly ghosts and learn that they're not all bad. Something to teach them the difference between the good and the bad (goes for the whole town, actually). Maybe get Casper High students involved? Some sort of contest?**_

He looked blankly at the paper. All those ideas were needed equally. Where to start, though? Well, everything involving children would have to wait a while until the parents were absolutely okay with the idea, so that left the public lectures and the pamphlets. He couldn't do any of those absolutely alone, and didn't have any underlings to talk things out with. The mayor hadn't been enthusiastic enough about GEIST to give Lancer _staff_ (apart from a secretary).

Right, then. He might as well start by chatting with Helena , get to know her a little better. He'd be working with her a lot and needed to foster a relationship.

Lancer stood up from his desk and walked into the front room of the office. His secretary was sitting behind the desk, legs crossed delicately. In front of her was a fashion magazine that she was thumbing through. Every so often she'd carefully fold a corner over to mark a page.

"Helena?"

"Mm?" The woman closed the magazine and swung around to face Lancer.

"What would you say is the most pressing ghost issue right now?"

The secretary didn't even think before she answered, "Fashion."

"What?!" Lancer had _not_ expected that answer. Maybe asking Helena Sanchez for help wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Fashion," the woman repeated. "I mean, I'm all for some of the outfits they wear, especially Spirit's, but they're a little tacky, you know? Half of them dress like they died in the '80s." The contempt in her voice was audible, and Lancer twitched slightly.

"Uh-huh," he answered. "But apart from fashion…?"

"Can't help you there, honey. Sorry." Helena swung back towards her desk and opened her magazine again. Lancer stared at her back for a moment, making a mental note to not bring up fashion, ghosts, or Spirit in her presence again, then turned and went back into his office.

Well, if his "staff" wasn't going to be helpful, he'd just have to turn to someone who knew the issues as well as he did: the heads of GEIST's Information Division, Jack and Maddie Fenton. He quickly grabbed his briefcase and keys and informed the heavily made-up Latina at the outer desk that he was leaving for a meeting and probably wouldn't be back for a while.

"Page me if someone comes in and forward calls to my cell. And if I'm not back by two, close up and go home."

The woman nodded absent-mindedly but didn't look up from her magazine. Lancer shook his head as he pushed on the glass door that opened onto the street and headed for the Fentons. Helena Sanchez was certainly going to be a very _interesting_ office companion.

---

Lancer did indeed spend the rest of the day at FentonWorks, working through what evacuation and bystander procedures should be and exactly what the public needed to know about ghosts. Lancer was slightly ashamed to admit that, even though he'd been a halfa for almost a year now and fought all the ghosts that came through Amity Park, the Fentons still knew more about them than he did.

_I shouldn't be surprised, though, _he mused._ They're some of the leading researchers and have been doing this for twenty-two years now, at least. Of course they're going to have more information._

He left FentonWorks at three thirty and headed back to his apartment by way of the office to make sure that his secretary had indeed locked up like she was supposed to. She had, so Lancer went home. He had enough of a start now that he could start organizing and writing a series of public lectures.

As he was preparing a small T.V. dinner, his ghost sense went off and he cursed in frustration. Ghosts always had the worst timing imaginable. He quickly dialed Danny and let the phone ring twice as the signal for "I've got this one," then transformed and went hunting. He had the feeling it was going to be a very long night.


	2. Arrival

_Thanks to wfea, YumeTakato, Snickerer, and egyptianqueen777._

**Chapter 2: Arrival**

_I don't own Danny Phantom, _or_ Jurassic Park._

The middle-aged woman stood with her back to the brick wall, arms at her sides like an actor in a cop show. As she peered cautiously around the corner of the building into the alleyway for the third time, she began to wonder what had possessed her to get out of her perfectly safe car in favour of what was going on in the shadows, and not possession in the literal sense, which was all too applicable in this town.

Two ghosts were duking it out about halfway down the alley. The attacker had the bulky metal exterior of a robot and a pair of wings that didn't look very aerodynamic. Two guns protruded from his forearms and he appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. The attackee was clad in a blue formfitting costume and appeared to be an albino. He was retaliating with blue energy from his hands, but losing quickly, and kept shooting nervous glances at the guns.

If the woman had been closer to the fight, she would have heard the following conversation.

"Look, Skulker, do we really need to go through this again? You know I'm going to..." The voice tried to sound nonchalant but the worry was showing through.

"Not this time, mutt," the robot growled. "I'm looking forward to testing these, and you'll be the perfect target. Imagine, your head on my wall..." He drifted off into thought and the other person in the alley retorted.

"I thought that was Danny's spot?"

"No," explained Skulker. "_His pelt_ will lie at the foot of my bed. _Your_ _head_ will be on my wall."

"Not in my lifetime."

"Try me." Skulker advanced on the other ghost, who he evidently considered to be his prey. Just as the guns started whirring, there was a sudden clatter not far from him. His head shot around in its direction and his eyes narrowed in irritation. The other ghost took advantage of the distraction to generate a green swirl of ectoplasm and kick the hunter through it.

The woman peeked around the corner again from the position she'd taken after throwing the rock down the alley. Both ghosts were gone. She swore under her breath in irritation, then turned back towards her car. When she'd gotten halfway there she felt a presence behind her and stopped in her tracks. The presence spoke.

"Why did you do that?"

The woman smiled to herself and turned around to face the ghost behind her. She'd know that voice anywhere.

"'Cause you weren't doin' so well, Spirit," she said, her eyes twinkling underneath the hood of her windbreaker. "Thought you could use some help."

The white ghost floating in front of her looked taken aback momentarily before the mask of neutrality descended over his face again.

"Most people around here seem to think we can handle the fights on our own, you know," he said defensively.

"Yeah, well, I'm not most people," the woman responded, "and I'm not exactly from around here, _William_." She pulled her hood off to reveal shoulder-length hair and freckles. Spirit blinked and reflexively jumped backwards.

_Cathy? What on earth ...?_ His sixth sense for bad situations kicked in then, and his stomach dropped._ She knows ... and now she's expecting a confession._ His shoulders slumped.

"I'll be right back," he said dejectedly and ducked back into the alley. There was a flash of light and a moment later William Lancer, a bald man in his late forties, came out, furtively attempting to smooth the wrinkles out of his clothes.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You're supposed to be in California."

The woman moved an errant strand of hair behind an ear. "Matt and I are getting a divorce," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I needed to get away."

"A divorce?" Lancer was stunned. The last time he'd seen Cathy and her husband they'd seemed so happy with each other. "But it's only been two months! What happened?"

Cathy gestured towards a blue Honda sedan parked just down the street, and they began to walk towards it as she replied.

"It _hasn't_ only been two months. It's been three years. We were even separated at one point." She pulled her keys from her jacket pocket. "I was the main breadwinner and he still expected me to play the good housewife as he lounged around with his 'buddies.'" She sounded bitter.

Lancer stood on the opposite side of the vehicle and looked over at his high school friend, who sighed and climbed into the driver's seat. She gestured for him to get in too, and Lancer did so.

"He never really grew up like the rest of us, William. His pranks are horrendously immature, he's not a strong parent, he goes out almost every night with his friends..." Cathy turned the key in the ignition. "It just wasn't working anymore, so I ended it. Now," she said brightly, looking at Lancer, "how do I get to the Safe House from here?"

_How on earth can she just shift topics like that?_ Lancer was shocked. _And _she_ ended it? Somehow I'm not surprised. She's always been strong. _He raised a hand and pointed."Turn right at the stop sign, then take the next left."

Cathy shifted into drive and pressed down on the gas pedal. After she'd followed Lancer's instructions, she glanced over at her friend, who was looking confused, concerned, and panicked, and laughed.

"I've really thrown you for a loop, haven't I?" she asked. "Sorry."

Lancer didn't respond. Instead he asked, "So why Amity Park?"

"Like I said, I needed to get away. I know it here and I know I've got a friend who'd be willing to listen to my ranting too ..." The tone of the last sentence was mildly ironic. She'd been the first person to hear about Lancer's job problems when she'd flown in to organize the class reunion in May, and was clearly expecting Lancer to return the gesture.

"I see. Right again at the light, then pull over."

Cathy did that, then became aware of her surroundings. "This isn't the Safe House," she said, looking and sounding wary.

"No. This is my apartment block. You're staying with me." Lancer climbed out and began unloading bags from the back seat, trying to leave Cathy no choice.

"Huh?" Cathy turned around in her seat to face him. "When did I ever agree to that?"

"Look. If you're here to talk my ear off, you might as well be able to do it at any time of day without having to drive across town or phone. And _I_ haven't even started with _you_ yet. Come on. I've got a spare room, and it's free."

Cathy looked slightly hesitant and Lancer grasped at a straw. He really didn't think she should be alone at a time like this, even if she thought she could be.

"The front desk will be closed by the time you get to the Safe House anyway."

Cathy sighed. "Fine. But we're talking about this in the morning." She climbed out of the car and began helping Lancer with her bags.

---

"So what clued you in?"

Cathy was getting settled into his second bedroom after Lancer had removed the boxes and other clutter that it had accumulated there throughout its years of disuse. He was leaning in the doorway as she began to unpack the things she needed for the night. Cathy looked at him blankly for a moment before realizing he was talking about how she knew about his alter ego.

"You swore when you were fighting the hippie," she said casually. "Plus you've got a few of the same physical features and the timelines match up. Spirit appeared about the same time you started acting strange, by the sounds of it."

Lancer accepted her answer with a nod of his head. "Why tell me? Why not keep it a secret? Or tell the world?"

"I've no reason to keep it secret from you, especially since I plan on supporting you wholeheartedly. And you've never been one for publicity."

"How do you know? I could enjoy it," Lancer teased, hoping to cover up the surprise part of her statement had created. _She wants to help me? Does that mean she...? No. But she... No. That wasn't a reason. It couldn't have been. _

"So that would be why you hid in a corner for the second half of the reunion, would it?" Cathy retorted. She'd finished unpacking by then and joined Lancer in the doorway. "William, I'm here for you, whether you like it or not, so don't argue. Now why don't we put on some tea and talk about you for a while?"

"You're tired from the drive," Lancer protested. "You really ought to be in bed."

"Like heck I do. I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions. And I'm deciding to stay up and listen to a friend who probably hasn't shared his secret identity with anyone." Cathy's voice had a no-nonsense tone she'd probably picked up from her years of parenting. She looked hard at Lancer for a moment then headed for the kitchen.

"Not true," the man blurted, then winced to himself as he followed her. How many people should he say knew? The whole of Team Phantom? Danny? Ghost Writer? He opted for the vague route. "I've told people."

"Who?" Cathy didn't sound like she believed him as she rummaged around in his cupboards for a tea bag. Lancer shuddered at the mess she was making.

"Second shelf."

Cathy located the can of tealeaves, then turned towards him again. "You didn't answer my question. How many people know?" She grabbed the kettle off the stove and began filling it with water.

"Phantom, obviously, and Ghost Writer. He lives in the Ghost Zone. Here, let me." Lancer took the kettle from Cathy and placed it on the burner. Cathy didn't need to know about anyone else.

"So no _humans_. You seriously need to get out more, William." She pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down backwards on it, facing Lancer.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." He looked up at the top shelf of one of the cupboards where he could see a large handmade green teapot. Deciding that floating up to get it get it would probably make things more troublesome right now, he grabbed a chair and stood on it to get the pot down. "Those ghosts happen to be very good friends of mine."

"Do I get to meet them?"

"Phantom, almost definitely. Ghost Writer, probably not. He's a bit of a homebody." Lancer ran a bit of hot water into the teapot to prepare it for the water from the kettle. Cathy nodded and shifted the topic slightly.

"So Phantom's just a kid, huh? That took me by surprise when I saw him."

"He's amazing. Even I don't know how he manages to do everything he does." The admiration was evident in Lancer's voice.

It was true. Lancer had no idea how Danny Fenton/Phantom managed to balance ghost hunting, school, and a small social life. Of course, it helped that Danny had support from his friends and family and a year of practice at his secret identity before Spirit entered the scene, but still, what Danny did was almost literally superhuman. Cathy didn't need to know all that, though, and Lancer had no plans to tell her. Danny was more vital to the town than he was, if the secret ever got out.

"How'd it happen?" asked Cathy, resting her chin on her arms, which she'd folded along the back of the chair.

"What? Phantom's death?" Lancer was shocked at her lack of tact. He turned to face her, teapot tight in his grip.

"No. _Spirit's_. What happened?" Her voice had the patient edge one often uses when dealing with children. Lancer got momentarily irritated by her treatment of him. It was a logical thing to assume, after all. Then he forced himself to calm down, remembering that Cathy wasn't quite as anal about grammar as he was.

"Well, apparently, when someone's exposed to a large amount of ectoplasm and a fairly strong electric shock at the same time..." He shrugged. "I fell into an ectoplasm-based machine and it turned on. I didn't realize what had happened for a few days afterwards."

"And the spandex? It's a nice colour on you."

Lancer turned towards the sink again to hide the blush creeping onto his cheeks and emptied the water from the teapot.

"I was wearing it." He sensed Cathy's mouth opening again. "Don't ask," he added threateningly.

"Okay. Then I don't think I want to know."

"Good." Lancer added a handful of tea leaves to the pot, and was setting two mugs out when Cathy spoke again.

"So what sort of powers do you have?"

Jurassic Park_! She cuts right to the chase, doesn't she? Well, I suppose she'll end up seeing them eventually and I might as well warn her at the very least... _Lancer forced himself to relax."Basic things. Invisibility, intangibility, flight, ectoblasts, shields, ghost sense ... and a couple of others you'd be better off seeing rather than hearing about." He sounded fairly nonchalant about his abilities, as though he'd completely accepted this new life. Cathy felt comforted by the thought. That was one less thing she'd have to be concerned about, then.

The kettle began whistling at that moment, so Lancer poured the boiling water into the teapot and carried it over to the table. Cathy got up and fetched the mugs, then sat down again opposite Lancer and changed the topic again.

"So what exactly is this GEIST thing you're doing now?"

Lancer explained and ended up describing the main ghosts to Cathy, which eventually lead into a relatively animated (for Lancer) recounting of various ghost fights he'd been involved in. Cathy lapped it up eagerly, but at the same time kept expressing concern for his safety. Lancer wasn't able to calm her down completely about that point, despite mentioning his supernatural healing abilities every chance he got. The amount of worry Cathy was showing was, frankly, starting to worry _him_, so he stood up.

"It's getting late, Cathy. We can continue talking tomorrow, but right now I need to sleep, and I expect you do too."

Cathy sighed, and looked at the clock to see if this really was a valid excuse. Sure enough, it was almost midnight, so she gave in. Lancer was right, after all. If she was going to be staying here for a while, there would be plenty of time to argue with him. Cathy planned on using every moment.


	3. Trials

_Thanks to Snickerer, wfea, egyptianqueen777, YumeTakato, Zarz, and Coronadofwb._

**Chapter 3: Trials**

_Iay ooday otnay ownay Annyday Antomphay, Ethay Orkshireyay Eastfay Ongsay, oray Osmocay. _

Jazz Fenton unlocked the door of her dorm room in the middle of a Friday afternoon and hung her book bag on the inside knob. She wandered over to her computer, taking off her coat in the process, and turned it on, then spent the time it was booting up making a pile of homework on her desk in order of importance.

Her first week of lectures was over and it had been both exhilarating and exhausting. All her classes were going to be absolutely fantastic, though, and she already had friends in each one. She also knew the names of everyone in her building. Life at Yale was going to be amazing, and she could hardly wait to start the homework. However, Jazz was going to check her e-mail first to see if there was any news from Amity Park. She hated being out of the loop this much, even though Sam had promised to relay anything she was certain Danny wouldn't.

After sorting through a lot of spam, Jazz finally found an e-mail from home, sent by Danny the night before. She opened it excitedly and began reading.

**Hi Jazz! Things are going great here without you. Much more normal, and a lot safer, even if Dad's misfiring the Ecto-Coater everywhere. There haven't been many ghosts this week, just Skulker, with some nasty cannon things, but he hasn't hit anyone with them yet (well, okay, not _badly_. I think I'll be able to move my hand again next week.) Lancer's spending a lot of time at his job, which means that I'm having to ditch class to deal with ghosts more than last year. Doesn't matter, though, cause I only have to read 400 pages and write three essays a week. Lancer's got some woman staying with him, so I can't even go for tutoring. But I'm going to be okay. Promise. Hope you're doing well. Gotta go, it's time for patrol. Danny**

By the time she finished reading, Jazz was very worried about her brother. He'd been badly injured and was blowing it off as nothing. He was skipping school again, without Lancer to cover for him, and disregarding everything she'd drilled into him over the summer about study habits and the necessity of getting good grades. She'd honestly thought he'd been listening to her.

What hurt the most, though, was that Danny held such a low view of her. Jazz had thought she'd redeemed herself since the Thermos incidents. She didn't even remember an accident with ghost equipment since then. And life at home was _more normal_ without her? How was that even possible when the whole family hunted ghosts for a living? Did they even miss her at all? Jazz felt the tears welling up in her eyes and fought to keep them inside.

There was a knock on her door then, so Jazz got up to open it, rubbing the traces of water out of her eyes and getting back into "peppy mode."

"Hey! It's Jazz, right?" A dirty blond girl with her hair pulled back into a messy bun and a large beaded necklace falling halfway down her chest smiled warmly at her. "I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come hang out for a bit? You know, 'cause it's Friday and we deserve a celebration?"

Jazz looked hesitantly back at the pile of homework, and her eyes flickered to the computer screen, where Danny's e-mail was still up. Her stomach churned at the thought of what was in it, and she nodded. She knew that she needed to get her mind off things for a while and approach the problem later with a fresh outlook. Besides, this was a good opportunity to bond with Meg.

"Great!" beamed the girl. "Come on!"

Jazz followed her down to the opposite end of the hall where Meg had her room. On the way, they had to pass the lounge, where a bunch of girls were clustered around a table and talking. Jazz paused in the doorway to say hello and the girls' heads turned as one to face her. Their expressions ranged from disgust to amusement to contempt. Jazz was stunned. They'd been so nice to her even that morning. What had changed?

"Jazz?" Meg asked, tugging on the redhead's sleeve. "Ignore them. It's just the paper."

"What paper?"

"I'll explain in my room."

Jazz pulled herself away from the lounge, where the girls had started whispering to each other at her expense, and let her new friend guide her to her room. Meg closed the door and grinned shyly.

"Okay, I confess. I didn't invite you just to 'hang.' I was kinda hoping they" she jerked her head to the door "hadn't seen this yet so I could warn you." The girl tossed a newspaper at Jazz, who caught it and read the headline.

**GHOST HUNTER ON CAMPUS?**

Her stomach sank even further as she read the article in shock. How had they even heard about her? They were completely distorting the facts, though, but what else could you expect from a newspaper? And now everyone she'd met was going to think she was some sort of lunatic and she wasn't going to have any friends. They probably wouldn't even let her into any of the clubs, especially the Psychology Association. Her entire life was ruined.

Jazz burst out crying then and the bohemian girl came up and hugged her, making soothing noises. She reached out to a shelf behind Jazz and grabbed a bag off it.

"It's gonna be okay. They'll get over it once they see you're normal." She held the bag in front of Jazz. "I bought us chocolate?"

---

While Jazz was talking things out with her new friend, whose acceptance of her was surprising but welcome, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were once again sitting at a table in the Nasty Burger, celebrating the end of their first week of classes.

"Did you see Spears' face when the Lunch Lady appeared right in front of him?" Danny chuckled.

"Sorry, Danny. I was too busy laughing at what he yelled," Sam said. She and Danny looked at each other and simultaneously shouted, "_Yorkshire Feast Song_!" then dissolved into gales of laughter. When they'd calmed down a little, Danny spoke again.

"What is it with English teachers and educational swearing, anyways?" He grinned. "Remind me never to let him near the Portal."

Tucker immediately pulled out a touchpen and tapped the screen of his PDA.

"I didn't mean that seriously!" Danny said, trying to get the gadget from his friend.

"Speaking of Spears, Danny," asked Sam, "how'd you do on that in-class essay you got back today? You haven't said yet."

"B+. Jazz's tips really helped. I didn't think writing could be that easy, but when you've planned a little..."

"Told ya so," muttered Tucker. "And you can do it on patrol, even."

"Yeah, I guess I can." The thought hadn't occurred to Danny yet. Things were looking up this year. "Do you think her other tips would work too?"

"Of _course_, Danny. After all, _she_ did them and got straight A's." Sam took a sip of her soda through her straw, thoughtfully. _Danny can be slow, but he always gets there eventually. _

"So," said Tucker, now fiddling with his fries, "how was tutoring last night?"

"Pretty good," Danny replied, finishing his burger. "We went over my English stuff, and a bit of history. I don't know if I'll go as often this year, though. I think Lancer and I have finally got my life together a bit, and Jazz _did _leave me a notebook full of suggestions. I'm not sinking anymore."

"Just know your limitations, Danny," warned Sam, staring into her cup and trying to see how much of her drink was left. Suddenly an angry shadow fell over the three friends.

"Hey! This table is, like, reserved for the Official Danny Phantom Fan Club! So, could you, like, move?"

The speaker was somewhat short, with long blonde hair and fair skin. She still wore her cheerleader outfit from that afternoon's practice. Behind her were a number of other girls, many familiar from Casper High. Everyone wore something with Danny's image on it, most of them from the _Ghost Zone_ store in the mall.

"How do you know we're not Phantom fans too, Star?" spat Sam. This table had been theirs for three years. It wasn't going without a fight.

"Do you have, like, the Official Members' Badge?" the satellite asked, flipping open her wallet to reveal a laminated version of Phantom's insignia. "Do you say the Phantom Chant during a fight? Do you, like, have a full collection of action figures on your dresser at home?" The rest of the girls blinked at that last point and Star blushed, but recovered quickly and placed her hands on the table. "I didn't think so. Now we call this table, so _move, losers_."

"No." Sam crossed her arms. "Just because we don't belong to some club doesn't make us fans, Star. I bet your mom's a fan too but I don't see _her _here." The boys, Tucker especially, were looking particularly worried. They'd had run-ins with Paulina's lackey before and knew how Sam got when she was angry. This was shaping up to be the second-biggest catfight of the century (the biggest being whenever Sam finally got her hands on Paulina).

"Um, Sam?" Danny muttered nervously, "We're all finished anyway. Let them have the table. I don't care." He really didn't want to break up a fight or have a scene on account of him.

"Yeah, Sam, I wanted to go check out that new game at the arcade anyway," Tucker spoke up, anxious to get the trio out of there before Danny's idolizers got out of hand. Grinning slyly, he added, "Bet I can beat you at it."

_I don't like giving in without a fight, but since Danny doesn't care and they're his fangirls anyway ..._ "Don't think this is over, Star."

Danny and Tucker quickly grabbed everything off the table and Sam stood up just as Paulina skipped in. The Latina stopped as she saw the scene in the middle of the restaurant, paused for a moment, then held up the black and white pompoms in her hands with a smile.

"Who wants Phantom?" she cried. The rest of the Fan Club yelled back, "We do!" and the meeting began. Star smiled sweetly at the evictees as she took her seat.

"See ya, freaks." She held back the urge to mention how her mother was vice-president of the Spirit Fan Club, so obviously _couldn't_ come to the Phantom meeting

Once the three sixteen-year-olds were outside, Sam threw her arms in the air. "Oh, the irony..."

"Tell me about it," muttered Danny, shoving his hands in his pockets. "The Fenton-Phantom paradox strikes again."

"You know," said Tucker, "we really should make a list of these things and write a book someday."

"Yeah, Tucker, and while you're at it, why not make a book about all your PDAs?" asked Sam, sarcastically. _Why does Tucker always come up with the worst ideas on the planet?_

"You think that would sell?" the dark-skinned boy asked eagerly. 'Cause I've got the material for it already..."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You are seriously weird, Tucker."

"Says the guy with ghost powers," the technogeek retorted. Danny tensed.

"Speaking of which..." He casually stepped to the side and dropped into a manhole. A moment later, he'd returned as Phantom and was quickly engaged fighting a ghost lizard, which occupied him until dinner.

---

When Valerie Gray returned home from her supervising shift at the Nasty Burger (she'd gotten promoted that summer), she flipped on the lights and kicked off her shoes. She went into her room to get out of her work uniform and nearly tripped over a box sitting just inside the door. She remembered this box. She'd placed all of her smaller original weapons in it after she had gotten her new suit, because she hadn't needed them anymore. Until now, it had been sitting in her father's storage locker in the basement.

Val had no idea why the box was suddenly in her bedroom. Her father, Damon, wouldn't have brought it up, because he didn't approve of her ghost hunting and knew that her new suit was better armed anyway. She hadn't brought it up herself either, which ruled out the two people who had legal access to the contents of the locker. That left ghosts.

The obvious first choice was the Box Ghost, but since he hadn't burst out of the box immediately, Val could rule him out. None of the other ghosts she knew of were in the habit of randomly moving her things around, which could mean that this was some form of trap.

Val nudged the box with a broom, and when it failed to do anything she breathed a sigh of relief. That meant Skulker, whom she knew had been around this week, was out of the picture too. So if it had been a ghost, it wasn't a violent one, and could probably be safely ignored.

Val shrugged and pulled off her yellow smock, then took the box back downstairs where it belonged. Then she sat down to her homework, since she'd promised her father that she would finish her assignments before hunting this year and he was holding her to it.

While she was lying on her bed trying to get through the two chapters of _Catcher in the Rye_ that Spears had assigned for Monday, the African-American's thoughts kept drifting off into memories of fighting Danny and the day she'd found out who he was.

_Flashback_

"_Come back here and fight like a ghost!" Valerie shouted as she roared through the air after a white-haired boy who was looking scared. He turned around, still flying and fired a warning blast at her._

"_I'm the good guy! Would you stop chasing me?" Phantom fired another blast that sent Val's glider spinning out of control._

"_Relax, ghost boy, I came unarmed tonight. Figured I owed ya that much. And I wanna say sorry too, okay? You never tried to hurt me seriously during our fights, when I know you could have. And I just kept chasing you. Can you forgive me?"_

"_Of course I can, Valerie. On my part, that thing with the ghost dog really wasn't my fault. I was trying to catch it. And exposing you in front of your dad was just to..."_

"_I know." Valerie blushed. "This doesn't mean I'm going to stop hunting ghosts, though. I'm just going to stop hunting you."_

"_Understood. Want a heads-up sometimes?"_

_Valerie stood on the outside of the crowd of ghost hunters clustered around an unconscious Vlad Plasmius, who she'd just shot down to end the battle. She watched in amazement as two rings of black energy appeared at the blue-skinned ghost's waist and transformed him into her former benefactor, Vlad Masters._

Mr. Masters is a ghost? But he was always so kind to me. He always knew just what to give me to fight Phantom. How can he be evil? Wait ... if Phantom's good, then Mr. Masters helped me hurt him. Duh, Valerie.

_Phantom laughed nervously in front of her and spoke to the rest of the crowd. He'd apparently forgotten she was there."Okay, so maybe I'm not the only halfa?" he said awkwardly._

What's a "halfa"? _Valerie's thoughts were becoming more confused and anxious. _And why is Phantom talking so casually to the Fentons? He doesn't know them that well, does he? What are they even doing here, anyway? This isn't their fight. There's no reason they'd be involved with this.

_Phantom was still speaking, explaining something about Mr. Masters to the Fentons."He blackmailed me into not telling anyone, but I don't think it holds anymore. Remember the accident with the Proto-Portal? That's when it happened. He blames Dad for the accident and has been trying to get revenge. He _is_ trying to make me his apprentice. I think deep down he's really lonely and won't admit it. That's why he keeps kidnapping members of our family." Phantom shot a look at Spirit. "And now other people, by the looks of things."_

_Valerie blinked. _Wait a sec, did he just say, "_our family_?" What's goin' on?

_Val was standing outside the jet that Sam had gotten to take the rest of the ghost hunters to New Mexico. Her arms were crossed and she was looking at a very nervous ghost-boy. She'd just confronted him about exactly what had gone on in that mansion. Phantom fidgeted, then spoke._

"_Promise you won't kill me?"_

"_Yeah. Promise."_

"_Well, a halfa's what Vlad is. Half-human, half-ghost. And, um, I'm one too," he mumbled._

_Valerie blinked at him and staggered backwards slightly."You're half-human?" she asked incredulously, her thoughts running wild. _I was trying to kill a human being. Oh crap. He must hate me

"_Do I know your other half?" she asked after a moment._

"_Yeah. And that's why the Fentons are here... I'm kinda their son."_

_Two rings of blue light appeared at the ghost's waist. They split apart to change Phantom's black jumpsuit into a rumpled T-shirt and jeans. When they reached his face, they turned his eyes blue and his hair black. He avoided eye contact with the girl opposite him and stared hard at the ground._

"_Danny Fenton?" Val gasped. "But ... we're friends. How can you even stand to be around me? I mean, we dated and I was trying to kill you at the same time..."_

"_Well, you weren't trying to kill Fenton, Val. And it got a lot easier to be friends once you started thinking Phantom was a good guy."_

"_Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_I was scared?" Danny gestured towards the jet. "Come on, let's go talk inside. We need to get home."_

_End Flashback_

Val shook her head to get rid of the memories. It wasn't that they were particularly painful to her anymore, since she'd had a long time to come to terms with everything. They were simply distracting her from her homework, and she really wanted to go hunting tonight. She got up and turned on her music, and finally got the reading finished. Then she climbed up to the roof of the building, and activated her gear.

---

Paulina Sanchez sat in her frilly pink bed writing by lamplight in her diary, documenting her day at school, the Phantom sighting at lunch, the meeting of the Phantom Fan Club, and her plans for the weekend. Finally she leaned over and slipped the book into a drawer. As she was about to flip the lamp off as well, the room chilled slightly and a male voice spoke from somewhere near her closet.

"Paulina?"

The cheerleader stiffened. She knew this was a ghost and that it wasn't Phantom (the voice was wrong), yet it still knew her name.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely audible from fear.

"A friend of Phantom's. It doesn't matter who I am, really. I saw you in the Nasty Burger today, with that club of yours."

Paulina relaxed a little, since the ghost said he was a friend of her crush's. The owner of the voice noticed this, and continued.

"You didn't like what Star did to Fenton and his friends, did you? I saw your expression, so you don't need to say anything." The ghost paused. "Do you want them in the club? You can be honest with me."

"I'm not sure," the girl said. "They are geeks and totally not cool like me, but Phantom seems to follow Fenton around sometimes ... Still, Danny's a klutz and his friends are weird."

"Did you know the goth has a box of Phantom photos in her closet? Or that she worries about Phantom whenever he's in a fight?"

Paulina's eyes widened. "So Manson really _does_ like Phantom? She told me that she was being overshadowed during that kiss."

The voice faltered for a moment, almost as if it hadn't known that particular detail. Then it became warm and reassuring again. "Almost as much as you do. And Fenton's other friend has videos of a lot of his fights."

"He does?!" gasped Paulina. She'd been trying to get footage for five months, and the technogeek had had it the whole time? Maybe it wouldn't been so bad to invite that trio of losers in after all. Chances were that Sam would refuse on principle anyway.

"Yes, Paulina. Your friends aren't the only fans of Phantom, you know."

Something in the voice was starting to make Paulina uneasy. If he was Phantom's friend, he could be trusted, but she was beginning to feel that this ghost's intentions weren't entirely honourable.

"Why are you telling me this?" she demanded.

If the ghost had been visible, she would have seen his arms spread wide in a submissive gesture.

"I told you. I'm a friend of Phantom's, and he wants to see all his fans being accepted. Now, I don't want to deprive you of any more beauty sleep, so goodbye, Paulina. Perhaps we'll meet again?"

The chill lifted and Paulina sat in the dim light for a while thinking. She still wasn't sure whether letting the losers into the club was a good idea, but if Phantom wanted it and she could use Fenton's friends… And she'd met a friend of Phantom's! She hadn't come that close to being with the ghost-boy for almost a year now. Maybe this friend was cute too?

Paulina finally turned off her lamp and laid down, resting her head on her lace-trimmed pillow. She drifted off with a smile on her face, and dreamt of flying with Amity Park's hero.

---

In the Fenton household, life was usually so frenzied that everyone simply picked the mail up off the floor and set it on the coffee table, where it would be forgotten for a few days before anyone even noticed it was there. After several close calls with bill payments, Maddie Fenton had gotten into the habit of checking the table whenever she came in the door, and tonight, as she got home from a false ghost alarm several streets away, was no exception. She picked up the stack and leafed through it, finally coming to a large shrink-wrapped magazine with the words _Ghost Hunting Monthly_ inscribed on the cover. The ghost hunter dropped the rest of the mail back onto the table and tore off the plastic. They'd promised a spectral analysis of an English castle in this issue.

The magazine fell open to a quiz: _Is Ghost Hunting Making You A Bad Parent?_ Maddie smirked. This would be something to share with Jack over breakfast.

---

Tucker Foley, the human Master of Technology, was sitting in his attic lab browsing through an online magazine he subscribed to. He clicked the link to the next page, and an article came up that seemed out of place to him: _Has Technology Made You A Social Outcast? 10 Ways To Become That Cool Dude Once More_. One of the mandates of this particular e-zine was that being a technogeek made you the coolest person in your school by definition, which was one of the reasons why Tucker liked it so much.

At that moment his mother called up to him to tell him to go to bed. Tucker groaned and headed downstairs, vowing to continue his reading first thing in the morning. Who knew, Danny and Sam might find that article amusing at the mall tomorrow.

---

Sam Manson sank backwards onto her purple bedspread, letting the softness encase her. Even though she was a self-proclaimed "creature of the night," she did get sleepy once in a while and her luxurious bed was welcome. This time, though, Sam felt something stiff underneath her. She rolled over enough to pull it out and look at it. It was the September issue of _Cosmopolitan_, and it was open to an advice column about what girls should do with overprotective boyfriends.

_Mom must have stuck it here again_, thought Sam. _Like she's ever going to convert me like that. _Her eyes read the first few paragraphs almost involuntarily, and Sam began to look thoughtful. _That article could be useful though. Danny's like that a lot, even if he isn't my boyfriend. Well, it can wait till morning. I'm not giving Mom the satisfaction of reading it tonight._

She tossed the magazine on the floor and lay back on her bed, thinking of Danny. She eventually fell asleep despite her best efforts.


	4. Fracture

_Thanks to Snickerer, YumeTakato, egyptianqueen777, wfea, Celestial Maiden Sukira, microwaved noodles, and Pterodactyl. Wow! So many people!_

**Chapter 4: Fracture**

_Dearest fellows, 'tis my sad task to inform you that Danny Phantom in fact belongs to one Mr. Hartman of Nick Studios, and not to this humble author, who could not aspire to hope for such imagination and talent. I hereby dedicate this chapter to the esteemed dPhantoMfreak, who can take full credit for one of Cathy's lines in it. She'll know which one I mean. I hope._

"Hey Maddie!" boomed Jack Fenton, bounding into the lab on Saturday morning, "Did you see we got a new magazine?"

"Yes, sweetie. I saw that last night," his wife replied, turning to face him and beaming. "There's a quiz in there I thought it might be fun to do."

"Really?" asked the giant man excitedly. "I love quizzes! Let's do this right now!"

He sat down on a stool and grabbed a pencil from somewhere on the desk. His wife came over and flipped to the page for him, leaning over his shoulder.

"_Is Ghost Hunting Making You a Bad Parent?_" Jack read. "Of course not! Our kids are carrying on the business!"

"One," Maddie continued. "'Can you name all your children's friends?'"

"Yep!" grinned Jack. This was easy. "Sam, Tucker, and Valerie. And Jazzy's friends are, um, ... Maddie, does she have friends?" He looked at his wife questioningly.

"Of course, honey. There's that blonde girl that she did that report with last September, and that Asian girl she ... you know," she said thoughtfully, "I can't name them either."

Jack checked NO glumly and then read out the next question. "'Does one or both of your children come home late without telling you where they'll be?' Not anymore!" He ticked off NO with a flourish.

"'Have you ever hit a child with one of your experiments?' I suppose that's a yes." She sighed. "'Have ghosts ever ruined a holiday?'"

"No," said Jack. "Danny almost did, though, remember?"

"Of course. I was so worried about him that night, and mad at Phantom at the same time. But what about that Christmas Jazz had to destroy our turkey?"

"A little bit of ectoplasmic contamination doesn't equal a ghost!" Jack objected. "It's still a no."

"And Independence Day when Jazz was twelve? That general you shot at?"

"All right," Jack admitted, red-faced. "But just that once."

The couple happily continued doing the quiz for several more minutes, then tallied their score.

"Twenty-one," announced Maddie. "Now what does it say...?" She ran her finger down the page. "'If you scored between twenty and twenty-five, you're Parenting Demons. You spend too much time in your lab and let your work take over the rest of your lives, sometimes literally. Your children never see you and you've never attended a school event without embarrassing them. You probably don't even consistently remember birthdays. You need to change your behaviour or you'll lose them forever.'"

"Nonsense! They love us and they always will! Our family is closer than ever because of ghosts!"

"What are you guys doing?" a tenor voice asked from near the ceiling. Maddie turned from where she was trying to calm her irate husband down and looked up at her son, who'd stuck his white-haired head through the ceiling. "Dad usually doesn't shout this much when he's inventing."

"We just finished a quiz, Danny," said Jack, rising from his stool. "In _Ghost Hunting_. It says we're terrible parents. We aren't, are we?"

"Are you kidding? You guys are awesome, even during that year you were trying to kill me..." Danny grinned as he let the rest of his body drop into the room. "They didn't have a question about that, did they?" He transformed back to his dark-haired human form, grabbed the magazine from the counter, and started reading. The longer he read, the more serious his expression became. Finally he looked up at his parents.

"This looks like it's been written just for you guys. I seriously doubt any other ghost-hunting family's going to answer YES to 'Have your children ever come home with mysterious bruises and blame it on ghosts?'"

"You're right!" Danny's father brightened. "There aren't even other ghost hunting families!"

"There aren't?" asked Danny, looking at his mother. This was news to him. In all of America, they were the only _family_ that did this?

Maddie nodded. "There are a lot of teams and couples, you've met a few of them, but no, no families."

"Huh. Then this thing must _really_ be directed at us." Danny began to feel very suspicious, and let his eyebrows narrow slightly.

Maddie took the magazine and shut it. "Nonsense, Danny. It's just a silly quiz. It doesn't mean anything. We're not taking it seriously, so neither should you." She paused and looked at him curiously. "Aren't you supposed to be meeting your friends at the mall?"

"Right!" Danny glanced at his watch. "Crud. That's the time?" Without another word, he went ghost and shot up through the ceiling and out of the building. On his way, he swore at himself, _Geez, Fenton, you'd think you'd get the "on-time" thing right after sixteen years. _

---

Twenty minutes later, after apologies from Danny for his lateness and the arrival of an out-of-breath Valerie, who'd had to convince her father that she actually had finished her homework, the four friends were lounging around at the food court, catching up on the week and poking fun at the passersby.

Sam pointed to a black-haired girl whose back was turned to them as she paid for her meal. The girl was dressed in a tight black top and matching capris with white accents that complimented her features nicely. "If she's going for the goth look," she told the rest of the group, "she's doing it all wrong."

The others nodded in agreement. Then the girl turned around and began scanning the tables for a place to sit, and her unnoticed watchers saw a very familiar white logo across her chest. The two girls also recognized her face and their jaws dropped. The boys, being boys, hadn't quite gotten that far yet.

"Isn't that _Paulina_?" asked Valerie. "What is she doing here? And why is she dressed like Danny?"

"Haven't you heard about the Official Danny Phantom Fan Club?" Sam asked incredulously.

"If that's what those cheerleaders were doing in the Burger last night, then yes," Val replied somewhat angrily. "I had to get them to stop squealing five times. They were scaring the other customers."

Paulina's expression brightened and she began moving away from the counter. Sam rolled her eyes at the girl's incessant "preppiness" and was about to make another disparaging comment when a lightly accented voice asked, "Can I sit here? There's nowhere else."

The foursome looked up at Paulina in surprise. This was completely uncharacteristic behaviour. Paulina was actually trying to be nice to them. Still, it was _Paulina_, which meant that she wanted something they weren't willing to give her.

"What about those tables over there?" Val asked pointedly and indicated several tables on the opposite side of the eating area. Paulina looked at them and shrugged innocently.

"There's all this goop and stuff on them. This table's clean."

"Yeah, and occupied by the 'losers,'" Sam pointed out.

"Thanks! I knew you'd understand." Paulina sat down, picked up her lo-fat wrap, and sat looking at her shocked tablemates for a moment before breaking the stony silence. "So I hear you guys are fans of Phantom too."

"Where'd you hear that?" asked Danny frantically. Sam stomped on his foot under the table.

"Sorry, Paulina, not really. No more than the rest of the town, at least," she told the cheerleader. _Why the heck do you care, anyway?_

"Really? Because I also heard that you have a box of photos of him, Gothica."

This time it was the goth's turn to panic. Even Danny didn't know about _that_.

Danny tried to stifle his laughter. "You collect pictures of _Phantom_?" he asked his friend.

"No! It's not like that, I swear!" Sam blushed. Disregarding how the Latina had found out about it, she had no right to bring it up in front of Danny. She glared across the table at Paulina, who simply batted her eyes at Tucker instead of making eye contact with the goth.

"I heard that Technogeek here has video footage too."

Tucker paled._ How did she find out about Danny's training tapes?_

"Where did you hear this stuff, Paulina?" Valerie asked, bringing the attention off Tucker tactfully. The African-American girl was the only one not too consumed by fear to ask the bold question without revealing something incriminating.

"Phantom's _amigo_ told me," Paulina chirped. "He said Phantom wanted you guys in the Fan Club too."

"Really?" asked an agitated Danny. "What did this guy look like?" _Which of my enemies would say something like _that_? Like joining a Fan Club is going to ruin my life in a way that kidnapping or physical pain _won't

"Oh, you know, ghostly." She waved her hand breezily. _He wouldn't be asking that if he wasn't a fan_. _I knew it!_

"You didn't actually see this guy, did you?" Sam scoffed. "And you're prepared to trust him just like that?" Her tone indicated that she hadn't thought even Paulina could be that stupid.

"If Phantom trusts him, so do I," Paulina answered simply. "So, since you guys are _obviously_ fans and Phantom wants you in, want to join the Fan Club? We've got all sorts of benefits and stuff."

"Well, sure, if _Phantom_ says so," Sam said sarcastically, glancing over at Danny. Paulina brightened.

"Well, in that case you'll need these member kits." She pulled four plastic bags from her purse and tossed them on the table. "I also suggest you get some Phantomwear and maybe a makeover. Our next meeting's on Wednesday, and I expect to see you at all the fights before then. Now, I've got a manicure in ten minutes, so I've got to go. Buh-bye!"

She took her uneaten wrap and hurried off. All eyes at the table turned to the member kits on it in disbelief.

"Okay, I'm officially freaked out now." Danny's voice sounded hollow.

"Why?" asked Sam and Valerie together. "Those bags aren't _that_ scary," the goth added.

"Some ghost tells Paulina he's my friend and that I want us to join her club, but she never sees him. Most ghosts aren't that smart. And this morning Mom and Dad did a quiz targeted at ghost hunting families, and it said they're terrible parents."

"They didn't believe it, did they?" asked Tucker.

"No, thank goodness. But the strange thing about that is the Fentons are the only family in the business."

"You're kidding," said Valerie. "That quiz was tailor-made for you guys?"

"I think so. Someone's targeting me."

"Us. Targeting _us_." Valerie's mouth had set into a scowl. "My box of old weapons showed up in my room last night, and I know it wasn't Dad or me," she explained.

"And one of my e-zines ran an article about tech making you an outcast," Tucker pitched in. "They _never_ run that kind of stuff. Goes against the Technogeek culture."

"Do you think an edition of _Cosmo_ open to an article about boyfriends could the part of this too?" Sam queried. "I thought it was just Mom again, but now..."

"With all this? Probably," Danny told her, his stomach dropping. "Okay, so that's Val, Tucker, Sam, Mom, Dad, and me. What ghost would target Team Phantom so specifically? And would have the resources to pull those magazine stunts?" A look of realization appeared on his face. "_Vlad_." The name hung in midair.

"We better find out if Jazz or Lancer have had anything suspicious happen," suggested Sam, "and warn them if they haven't."

"And we need to figure out the ulterior motive too," said Tucker. "Vlad never just does one thing at a time."

"I thought we'd gotten rid of him for good," groaned Danny, cradling his head in his hands.

"Vlad? Are you kidding? He's like a cold sore that never goes away." Sam laughed bitterly.

"And don't I know it." Danny stood up and pulled out his cellphone. "I'm calling Jazz. Back in a sec." He walked off to a quiet corner and the rest of the gang started brainstorming Vlad's motives.

---

The phone rang three times before a girl answered with a "Hello?"

"Hey! Jazz?"

"Danny!" the girl gasped. "Thank goodness you called! I've got a bone to pick with you and you're going to hear me out if it's the last thing you do."

Danny gulped. What on Earth had he done to get Jazz this angry several states away?

His irate older sister continued. "What is the big idea skipping classes more than ever? You know you can't afford to do that. You almost _failed_ ninth grade, for heaven's sake! You're going to blow your cover, Danny, especially with that hand injury. Skulker's never done that much damage before..." She was drawing breath to continue the tirade when Danny managed to stammer an interruption.

"Woah, woah, _what_?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Danny. Don't play dumb with me." Jazz was practically growling.

Danny cringed slightly, but replied calmly. "No, Jazz, I don't. I've only missed two classes this week, I practically aced an essay, and Skulker hasn't even managed to hit me once. I'm fine, Jazz."

"But..." objected Jazz, stunned, "that e-mail..."

"_What_ e-mail?" said Danny, in a low, ominous tone. _This isn't good. Vlad's gotten to her._

"Thursday night, before the late patrol." Jazz's voice was quaking with confusion and anger. "You said ..."

"Everything I just told you. I really miss you here, Jazz. It's not the same without you trying to protect me all the time. But we kinda need your help with a ghost problem. It's Vlad."

"I should have known," Jazz spat. "What's he trying now?"

"Using psychology to break up the Team. Mom, Dad, Tucker, and Sam all got magazines yesterday with strange articles in them, Val's old weapons box mysteriously appeared in her room, and _somebody_ told Paulina that Phantom wanted us in her stupid Fan Club." Danny sighed. "I guess we can add e-mails to the list too."

"And newspapers," the older Fenton stated. "Somebody tipped off the campus rag about our family. Now everyone thinks I'm a freak." Even a day later her voice was shaking with tears.

"Jazz. It's okay. I'm sure there are plenty of people who think it's cool. If anyone's a freak in our family, it's me," Danny said, trying to sound reassuring. "But we're going to get back at him, and that's where we need your help."

"Okay," she replied, sounds of rummaging in the background. "I'm going to write this down. Tell me everything."

Danny did, trying to look as casual as possible as he did so. He didn't think a sixteen-year-old kid having an incredibly serious and secretive conversation would remain unnoticed for long.

---

During the middle of Tucker's explanation of how Vlad wanted to use the Fan Club to make Danny popular, therefore alienating his friends and making Danny take part in the evil ways of the A-list, the halfa in question returned to the table. The tall raven-haired boy stared at his friend in disbelief for a moment, then sat down with a sigh.

"Well, Jazz had the worst of it. Vlad rewrote my e-mail to her, and got a nasty article published on campus. She's been worried sick since yesterday."

Everyone groaned. A worried Jazz was not a pretty sight, and usually one you tried to avoid as well, since she tried to get rid of the anxiety by doubling the amount of prying she did.

Danny continued. "I told her everything we know and she's going to go over it and get back to us tonight." Two years before he would have simply tracked Vlad down immediately, but his experience and support group had taught him restraint. Now he waited until he knew what any enemy, ghost or other, was actually trying to accomplish before going after them. This was also more effective since he generally knew their weaknesses by that point and could exploit them.

The quartet's attention at that moment was grabbed by the sight of William Lancer entering the food court bantering good-naturedly with a woman and smiling more than they'd ever seen him, even after a battle. Lancer seemed to be holding a real conversation and the woman seemed to actually be _enjoying _his company.

The teenagers exchanged glances. This was highly unusual behaviour. They hadn't thought that Lancer had friends outside of teaching and ghost hunting. A thought flickered through the mind of everyone but Danny, who'd met the woman during his tutoring session and mentioned her to the rest of the group: _that must be Cathy._

The teens watched in fascination as the two adults grabbed trays and stood in line at the nearby sandwich counter. They casually edged their table closer to the couple to eavesdrop.

"I still don't understand what you see in plaid, you know." Cathy's tone was casual, but teasing at the same time.

"It's part of my heritage," Lancer defended stiffly.

"You're not Scottish."

"It's cheap, then."

"That's because everyone _else_ knows better than to buy it, William." Cathy looked at Lancer pointedly. "Egg salad, please. He's paying."

"Corned beef," Lancer said to the cashier, digging out his wallet. "And two apple juices."

"Honestly," Cathy continued, "you can't keep living as if you were destitute, William. You can afford luxuries sometimes, you know. Like new shoes. And don't get me started on your eating habits again." She glared at him. Lancer glared back, though more for show than anything.

"My eating habits work. And I thought we'd had the food conversation last night."

Cathy rolled her eyes. "You were going to eat toast for dinner, William. _Dry_ toast."

"It's good," Lancer protested. "And quick. You've seen the sorts of interruptions I have to deal with." He picked up his tray, which now held their order, and walked over to a table. So far he didn't seem to have noticed the younger half of Team Phantom watching him avidly. They hoped it stayed that way. Teasing Lancer later was going to be _fun_.

Unfortunately, Lancer and Cathy sat too far away for eavesdropping to still be practical, so the group had to content themselves with watching them from a distance. They could still follow the conversation from the adults' actions, though, and what it boiled down to was Cathy pestering Lancer about various parts of his lifestyle and Lancer protesting everything, but not very strongly.

"They're cute together," Valerie said as Cathy flicked a large crumb at the former teacher and he cringed.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. _If she stays, she'll be good for him. _

"Pity they're so clueless," remarked Tucker. "They both think they're the only one in love."

"True," Val said, catching Tucker's eye. "You'd think with all the cues they're sending each other..."

Sam nodded thoughtfully. She knew what the others were suggesting. They thought she wasn't aware of Danny's interest in her. Oh, she was. Very much aware. It was Danny who was having problems seeing her interest in _him_.

Danny was also aware of what Valerie and Tucker were trying to suggest. Sure, he was interested in Sam, romantically, but she didn't return the feelings. Besides, she belonged with some hot gothic guy, not clumsy, best friend Danny Fenton.

Danny didn't pay as much attention to the older couple currently flirting with each other on the other side of the cafeteria as his friends did. He'd had the chance to watch Cathy in action on Thursday night, and it was obvious that she cared about how Lancer was treating himself. It was also obvious that Lancer was infatuated enough with the woman to listen to her and try to please her. What wasn't obvious was why neither adult noticed the other's affection. He shook his head slightly, and tried to tune out the not-so-subtle teasing that was being directed his way.

Eventually watching Lancer got boring, and the four friends decided to spend the next part of their afternoon poking fun at the merchandise at the _Ghost Zone_ store. It was both useful and interesting to see what new items were in stock, and much too fun to act out quiet battle scenes using the dolls. Besides, if they _were_ joining Danny's fan club, and Paulina had smoothly left them little choice in the matter, then they'd need to have at least a couple tokens of their support for the local hero.

After dumping his garbage in a receptacle, Danny started following his friends out of the food court. He had the presence of mind to walk catch Lancer's eye and pointedly mime "call me" as he did so. Lancer nodded, briefly, then refocused on Cathy, and Danny moved on to the rest of the mall.

---

Several hours later, Cathy had finished shopping for Lancer, and the two friends had made it back to Cathy's car with their bags. Cathy unlocked the trunk, placed the three bags she held inside, then put Lancer's two beside them, making sure everything was stable. She was just moving to shut the trunk again when a sharp cry came from the passenger's side and the car shook briefly as something heavy hit it. Immediately worried about her companion, she left the lid of the trunk as it was and moved around to see what was going on.

William Lancer was slumped against the sedan, one hand out for support and the other raised to his forehead as if to massage a headache. He was grimacing in pain.

Concerned, Cathy hurried over to him to comfort and steady him. A second or so later, though, just as she was approaching him, he suddenly relaxed and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to clear his head. Cathy watched him, puzzled, then, when he seemed aware of his surroundings again a moment later, asked, "William? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," the man grunted. He managed to open the front door and slip inside before Cathy could get out another question. She sighed, walked around to the driver's door, closing the trunk on the way, and sat down beside him.

"You're _not_ fine," she told him firmly. "You're still shaking, and most people don't get sudden bursts of pain like that. I'm taking you to the hospital." She placed the key in the ignition to emphasize her point.

"No!" Lancer exclaimed. "No, no hospital. No need."

"Then what? You'd better have a good explanation..."

Lancer leaned back in his seat so that he was staring up at the roof of the vehicle. After a moment, he sighed. "I was having a vision."

"A vision?" Cathy repeated, incredulously.

"Yes. It happens sometimes. Really, it's nothing to worry about." Lancer kept his voice carefully flat.

"You're telling me that on top of everything else you're _psychic_?" Cathy clarified, looking over at him.

Lancer sighed again and continued to stare at the ceiling. "Basically, yes."

Cathy rallied her nerves and managed to respond with curiosity. "Sounds like an interesting power."

Lancer dropped his gaze and turned to look at Cathy. "It's not a power," he told her. "I've been getting flashes of things since childhood."

"Honestly?" Cathy's face registered shock. For one of Lancer's closest friends growing up, she hadn't had any suspicion of this. "Childhood?"

"Yeah. You remember those recurring dreams I used to have? And how I always knew what homework to do even if I was absent? Or when Kraft was going to be around the corner?"

Cathy nodded, intrigued.

"I didn't have any idea about it until this spring, about the time of the reunion," Lancer continued. "And before you ask, I don't have control over what I see, or when, so you're not getting lottery numbers or anything."

Cathy snorted, amused that he knew her well enough to know she'd ask. She started the engine and pulled out of the parking stall.

"So, what did you see, just now?" she asked, once they were smoothly on their way back to Lancer's apartment.

"I was running." Lancer's voice sounded far off and thoughtful. "I don't know where, or why, but I know that if I wasn't fast enough, I was going to lose something forever."

Cathy considered that for a moment before acknowledging, "Sounds pretty vague."

"They always are," Lancer replied sadly, "and they never make sense until after the fact, or during. I don't even get enough information to form a plan."

"So, basically, it's cool, but utterly useless and as annoying as anything," Cathy remarked dryly, trying to cheer her companion up a little.

Lancer chuckled. "I think you hit it dead on," he told her.

"Great," Cathy remarked. "So... you said you only found out this spring. What happened?"

Lancer groaned. He'd known she was going to start prying again as soon as he opened his mouth, and he knew his friend well enough to know she wasn't about to let things like this go. He made himself comfortable in the passenger's seat, and started talking. Cathy listened with interest the rest of the drive.


	5. Double Acts

_Thanks are in order for egyptianqueen777, YumeTakato, wfea, Coronadofwb, and Snickerer._

**Chapter 5: Double Acts**

_...when disclaimers many too written you've know you .World Ghost, MusicMuch, Ashes Angela's, Phantom Danny own not do I. _

The rest of the weekend passed smoothly and without incident (except for the Box Ghost and some nagging). Danny had warned Lancer about Vlad late Saturday night when the man finally got a chance to phone him, and they'd met with Danny's parents on Sunday to try to brainstorm a solution. They hadn't had any luck, and Jazz hadn't gotten in touch with Danny, which had them slightly worried. However, Danny had complete confidence in his sister's ability to figure Vlad out, and his optimism was wearing off on everyone else as well.

Thus it was that, at three p.m. on Monday afternoon, Will Spirit was flying through the Ghost Zone humming to himself and thinking only about the job he would be starting today. The Ghost Writer had shown him the advertisement for it at the beginning of summer, and after a great deal of thought, Spirit had applied and, being the only applicant, was hired. For the duration of the school year, every Monday at 3:30, he would be teaching an English course at Ghost Zone High.

Lancer honestly didn't know what to expect at this job, since many of the students had been there for years and would all have powers they wouldn't hesitate to use. He'd definitely need every trick he'd learned at Casper to deal with them. Still, the challenge would be worth it, and hopefully enjoyable. He wouldn't have to conform to an established image here, for one thing. He wouldn't have Cathy nagging him, for another. His mood darkened slightly as he remembered the "discussion" when he'd mentioned his third job, but he pushed the thoughts aside. He didn't want to be anything less than cheerful on his first day.

The teacher finally descended to the front steps of the school, and entered the brick building, immediately assuming the air of the professional educator that he was. He floated towards the classroom he'd been assigned several weeks before, going through his lesson plan mentally as he did so. He reached 14C and pushed the door open to be greeted by thirty-odd youthful, if slightly pale, faces in various positions of attentiveness. Most of them were sepia or gray, as if they'd stepped out of an old movie, but there were bits of colour here and there.

_At least they're decently behaved,_ Lancer remarked gratefully to himself as he walked over to the desk and stood beside it casually.

"Good afternoon, class. My name is Spirit, and I'll be teaching you English once a week for the next year. Now, since this is a once-a-week class, you will need to work hard the rest of the week, and I must warn you, I'm not lenient. However, I encourage independent thought and am not likely to be quite as strict as some of your other teachers here." He smiled warmly. "Now, I'm going to run through the class list to learn your names. I expect you all know the drill."

He picked a paper up from his desk and reading. "Addams, Lucille. Berton, Maria. Creep, Little. Unique name..." The boy stuck his index fingers in his ears and waggled his hands, making the class laugh.

_Ah, yes, _thought Lancer, _the class clown. Got your number now, Creep_. He continued down the list, through Kaufman, Barry and Mon Ng, Myrtle, getting responses from everyone. Then he read a name that made him do a double take.

"Phantom, Danielle."

"Yuh."

Lancer scanned faces until he saw a girl in a black and white two-piece costume, white hair in a ponytail, sitting half-sideways in her seat near the back of the room, playing a string game with herself. She noticed him looking at her and made eye contact, grinning.

_She looks just like a younger Danny, right down to the outfit. Must be the clone he mentioned. _Lancer forced his eyes to return to the paper, pretending he didn't recognize Dani. _I'll have to watch for her pulling the stuff Danny does._

"Poindexter, Sydney. Spoo, Kee..." He finished off the list, and set the class to writing about their happiest moment so he could get a sense of their abilities. Near the end of the class, he collected their papers and handed out a stack of old textbooks he'd dug out of a storage closet when he'd come by the school in late August. After telling his students to have three of the short stories read for discussion next week, he dismissed them. As they were filing out, chattering, he called out, "Danielle, if you have a moment?"

The white-haired girl looked slightly panicked at the sound of her name, but approached him dutifully. Lancer took a seat at one of the desks and gestured for Dani to do the same. He wanted this conversation to be relaxed and casual.

"Do you know who I am, Danielle?" he asked.

She nodded brightly. "You're Danny's friend. The halfa. Everybody knows who you are here. And my name's _Dani_. With an i."

_Of course it is. _"You're Danny's clone, right?"

"Yeah," she replied sullenly. "And everyone knows it, too."

"They tease you about it?" Lancer asked, concerned. After realizing what Danny put up with at school, he'd taken a much more active interest in bullying.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Dani angrily told him. "The worst of it is I can't fight back with my powers, 'cause I'll melt and they'll laugh more." Her face became sour, and Lancer decided to change the topic.

"How long have you been coming here?"

"Since I left Vlad's place. I live here, actually. Walker's — you know Walker, right? — well, ghosts who don't have somewhere to live are Against The Rules. I'm not the only kid who lives here. Lots of us do." Dani sounded really hurt and bitter about the whole situation, and that hit Lancer hard. He wouldn't wish the girl's situation on anyone. She'd been through a rough year, by the sounds of it, longer if Vlad had treated her poorly too, and Lancer didn't know how much he'd be able to help her. That had to wait, though, until he really knew what her problems were and what she'd been up to.

"You haven't left the Ghost Zone this whole time?" he asked with shocked concern.

Dani shook her head. "Haven't even left the school. Look, it's nice talking and all, but if the bullies see me with you ..." She stood up to leave, then had to lean on the desk for support. Lancer noticed that her glow had dimmed slightly during the course of their conversation. It was barely visible at all now. His gut told him that the girl was sick, and too proud or afraid to admit it.

He stood up quickly to help her, but she shook him off and started for the door. Halfway there her feet, which had been floating, hit the floor, and she swayed again. Lancer ran to catch her, but she fainted before he got there. Dani's transformation rings appeared as she collapsed and the adult halfa stared at her unconscious form in shock.

Danielle was dressed in a ragged blue hoodie several sizes too small and red skater shorts in similar condition. Her hair was matted and fell loosely around her face, which was sunken and paler than it should have been. She was definitely underfed, and possibly malnourished as well.

Angela's Ashes_! What has this girl been through? She ... What do I... She... I need to get her medical attention. _Worried and panicking slightly, Lancer poked his head out the door of the classroom, hoping to catch a student passing by. Instead, he came almost face to face with a scrawny boy in suspenders and thick glasses who looked like he'd been waiting for someone.

"Ah, Sydney... Could you run down to the office and tell the principal I'm taking Danielle Phantom home with me? I'll explain later."

The boy looked puzzled for a moment, but did as Lancer said. The teacher turned around and scooped Dani up in his arms. Standing up, he generated a large portal and stepped through it, looking around to get his bearings before taking off for the distant lights of Amity Park. A hospital was out of the question given the girl's nature, as was FentonWorks, since as far as Lancer could tell Jack and Maddie didn't actually know that Dani existed. That left only one real option, and, since he was pressed for time tonight, he was going to have to take it.

---

Twenty minutes later, Will Spirit flew straight through his living room wall carrying an unconscious fourteen-year-old girl. His temporary roommate, Cathy, sitting in a recliner reading, jumped at his entrance and rushed over when she noticed what he was carrying.

"William? What ..." She pulled Dani's hair off her face and tsked over the girl's drawn features.

"She's a new student of mine. A halfa, before you ask. She fainted at the end of class, and needs looking after." Spirit sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm due at City Hall for a town meeting in half an hour, and taking her anywhere else, including a hospital, would just spell more trouble." He set his burden on the couch gently, stepped back, and transformed back to William Lancer. "So..."

Cathy placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. "Of course I'll look after her, William. I doubt you'd even know where to start. Now go get your suit on. I laid it out on your bed." She shooed him into the bedroom, then laid a blanket over Dani and headed into the kitchen. By the time Lancer returned, adjusting his tie, she'd prepared a sandwich that she handed to him along with his briefcase.

"You've got the spare Thermos, right?" Lancer asked nervously.

"You ask that every time you leave. I'll be fine! Now go. Knock 'em dead." She pushed him out the door, shut it, and returned to the living room, then stood for a while looking at the halfa on the couch.

_She's half-dead of hunger, poor thing. No wonder she fainted. But why is she going to school in the Ghost Zone? If she's half-human, why isn't she in this world? _Cathy pushed past the puzzlement and continued examining the teen in front of her, frowning in thought. _God, and those clothes are nearly rags. We're going to have to fix that, but first she needs to eat. Something bland, since she obviously hasn't eaten in a while. Her stomach won't be able to handle much._

Cathy reentered the kitchen and set things up to make porridge. (The girl probably wouldn't like it, but at least it was food.) Then Cathy returned to her novel, waiting for her charge to wake up. About half an hour later, Danielle stirred.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily, trying to take in her surroundings but too weak to move much.

Cathy put her book down and looked at her. "The human world. Spirit brought you here."

"Who are you, then?" The girl had gone from confused to scared and defensive to cautiously accepting almost instantly.

"I'm a friend of his. Cathy. What's your name?" the woman asked calmly, standing to help the girl sit up. The girl smiled at her in thanks.

"Danielle, but you can call me Dani." The girl's voice, though weak, was light and cheery, with a hint of mischief that was also reflected in her eyes.

"Okay. Dani, when was the last time you ate something?"

"Uh, last week, I think. Food doesn't get into the Ghost Zone much, and it's usually confiscated before it gets to me."

_So she's barely been eating anything for God knows how long. No wonder she's skin and bones._ "All right, Dani. I'm going to make you something to eat. Why don't you see what's on TV?" Cathy turned the set on and handed the girl the remote control. Dani immediately began flipping through channels, and by the time the water had started boiling she'd settled on MuchMusic.

Cathy brought in a bowl of oatmeal several minutes later and passed it to Dani as she sat down on the couch. The girl looked at it with distaste, shrugged, then began eating. Cathy turned the volume of the TV down so she could talk over it without yelling.

"Spirit says you're a halfa."

Dani froze, then nodded, mouth too full to answer.

"How many of you _are_ there?"

The girl shrugged. "Dunno. Don't go looking."

"What were you doing in the Ghost Zone? Where are your parents?"

"I don't have any." She sounded indifferent about the fact.

_Well, that brings things to a new level, now, doesn't it?_ Cathy placed a comforting arm around Dani and squeezed. "I'm sorry."

The girl merely passed the bowl back to the woman beside her. "Is there any more?"

"Of course." Cathy left and brought back another bowl a moment later to find the TV off. Dani had pulled herself more upright as well and had wrapped the blanket further around her. Her strength was obviously returning.

"This your place? It's nice."

Cathy shook her head and handed the bowl to Dani. "It's Spirit's. I'm just visiting. He had somewhere to be tonight, or he'd be here too."

"Uh-huh. So, you his girlfriend?"

_Blunt, isn't she?_ Cathy laughed softly and answered. "No. Just a friend who needed somewhere to stay. Like you."

Dani nodded. "Cool. Guess you're okay with the whole ghost thing?"

"Yes. I think it's kind of neat, actually." Dani held something out to her and Cathy looked at it in surprise. "You're done already?"

Dani grinned. "Got anything else?"

"Not tonight, Dani. You'll make yourself sick if you eat any more."

"Awww, come on. Oatmeal's _boring_."

"Sorry, sweetie. It's for the best." Cathy ruffled Dani's hair slightly, noting the grime that had worked into it. "You should rest now. Here, I'll help you..." She got up so she could support the girl as she lay down again, but didn't get far before the girl spoke again, defensively.

"I can do it on my own. I'm not _sick_."

"All right." Cathy resumed her seat in the recliner. Dani pulled the blanket over herself and fell asleep almost immediately.

---

Lancer returned about an hour later, and Cathy heard him hang his keys beside the door. She walked into the hall to talk to him.

"Dani's sleeping now. She's had some porridge, and seems to be doing better."

"Good. You two talk at all?" He looked at Cathy as pulled his coat off and hung it on a hook.

"A little. She's an orphan, William." Her voice cracked a little even though Cathy was trying to keep it neutral and steady.

"She told you that?" Lancer asked, surprised. _Almost the truth ... Smart girl._

"Basically. No wonder she was living in the Ghost Zone. Probably had nowhere else safe to go."

Lancer merely nodded as he finished loosening his tie. "The first lecture's in a month," he said.

"Congratulations!" Cathy grinned. "They liked your proposal, then?"

"Yes. They say it's a good starting point." Lancer finally turned towards Cathy. "You don't mind looking after Dani while I'm at work tomorrow, do you?"

"Of course not." Cathy grinned playfully. "She reminds me a lot of Lindsay at her age. It'll be fun."

"Good. I've heard she can be a bit of a handful."

They chatted a little longer about Dani, GEIST, and his first day of teaching, then headed their separate ways to bed. Both ended up lying awake thinking for a while about the homeless girl in the living room, and what was going to happen to her once she was well again.


	6. Anger

Thanks to HiddenAuthor, wfea, egyptianqueen777, YumeTakato, and Snickerer for the reviews! 

**Chapter 6: Anger**

William Lancer woke up the next morning and began to go about his daily routine quietly, so as not to wake his guests. As he was in the kitchen preparing coffee, a timid voice spoke up from the doorway.

"How much has Danny told you about me?"

Lancer turned to see a somewhat perky Danielle wrapped in a blanket and looking at him warily. He smiled, trying to put her at ease.

"You're his clone," he said. "Vlad made you but you turned on him. Danny hasn't seen you in about a year and a half."

"Did you know I melt if I use too much of my powers at once?" she asked.

Lancer nodded. "You mentioned something like that yesterday."

"Vlad was supposed to stabilize me so that didn't happen." Dani moved out of the entrance and took a seat at the table. "What do you have for breakfast?"

Lancer flicked the coffee maker on and opened a cupboard. "How does cereal sound?" he asked her.

"Great!"

He poured her a bowl of cheerios he didn't even know why he had and gave it to her along with a carton of milk. Then he popped some bread into the toaster, put two eggs into a pot of water, and sat down opposite her.

"Dani, a lot has changed around Amity Park since you were last here. Danny's parents know his secret, as does the other freelance hunter."

Dani raised her head to look at him quizzically. "The red one on the hoverboard? I saw videos of her in Vlad's lab a few times."

Lancer nodded and continued. "They also know about Vlad. Danny and I are seen as heroes now, not villains. I'm working for the city to help improve the situation further."

The girl nodded again. "Does Danny know I'm here?"

"I haven't had a chance to tell him," Lancer sighed, then, noting the look on her face, added warningly, "I don't think it would be wise to visit him yourself though. You need to get your strength back. Cathy's going to stay with you."

"Your girlfriend?"

"No!" Lancer's toast was done then and he got up from the table. _She's off limits, anyway. It's inappropriate to date someone still technically married. I doubt she'd even be interested. _"She's just a friend."

"Uh-huh." Dani didn't entirely believe that. _He's as bad as Danny. Hope I'm never that clueless._

"Did I hear someone mention something about Dani being a clone?" a sleepy voice asked from the doorway. The two halfas jumped and looked in Cathy's direction. Dani fought the urge to just disappear and Lancer became aware of his face becoming uncomfortably hot. That wasn't something he'd wanted Cathy to know. She asked questions, and got the truth out of people in return. It was time for a half-truth.

"Yes. Dani's, er, a clone of Phantom. An _imperfect_ clone which is why she's half-human, female, and younger."

"A clone? Really? So that's what you meant about not having parents." Cathy placed a hand on Dani's shoulder and smiled down at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, I won't tell. You've been through enough, I'm sure. Toast _again_, William?"

Lancer ignored her as he brought his plate over to the table with a twist in his stomach. _She bought it. She bought it. But why am I feeling bad about lying to her? I lie to everyone else all the time and never feel a thing._

Cathy grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and poured some cheerios into it. "You're feeling better today, Dani?"

"Yup," the girl beamed. "Perfect!"

"Hmph. I doubt _that_," said Cathy, "but you've definitely improved... Feel up to shopping this afternoon?"

Dani gave the woman a calculating look, then nodded. She could use new clothes before she had to skip town again. It was only a matter of time before Vlad found out where she was, after all, and there was no way she was letting him catch her. She finished her bowl of cereal and stood up from the table.

"Is it okay if I watch TV?" she asked, eyes wide with innocence. Lancer nodded.

"For a while," said Cathy, "and then I want you to have a bath."

"Aw man!" Dani headed back to the couch and fell backwards onto it. Lancer looked at Cathy, who shrugged.

"I'm a parent." She turned back to her breakfast just as Lancer gasped out a stream of blue smoke.

"Do you _see_ why I eat so much toast?" he asked dryly as he stood up from the table. "_Ghost World_."

The rings of light encased him again, and Cathy didn't even blink. She'd seen his transformation enough by now that it didn't faze her. Instead she said, "Kick butt, William. See you tonight."

Lancer took off and Cathy went into the living room, where Dani had sat up and tensed. The older woman realized that Dani must also be able to sense ghosts.

"Spirit's gone after it. Relax." Dani did, but turned to look at Cathy as she lay back down.

"What's he called as a human?" she asked.

"William Lancer."

Dani nodded, filing the information away, then turned back to the TV. Cathy returned to the kitchen and finished her breakfast. When she was done rinsing out her dishes, she walked into the bathroom and started filling the tub with hot water. When it was halfway full, she came back into the living room and turned off the television.

"Bath," she said pointedly.

Dani groaned, but obediently went into the bathroom and shut the door. Cathy looked at it for a moment before going into her bedroom to find something decent for the girl to wear to the mall. Those rags were completely unsuitable.

As she rifled through her things, she thought about Dani again and smiled. _Sweet kid. Still listens to authority after living alone like that. I hope she finds a good home._

---

Late that afternoon, Cathy was sitting on a bench at the Amity Park Mall, bouncing her leg on the opposite knee. Danielle's obedience clearly didn't extend to fashion advice. The girl had refused to let Cathy even suggest an outfit for her, so the woman was waiting outside the store for her charge to finish in the dressing room. As she was examining the selection of dresses in a nearby store at a distance and wondering again how teenage girls could possibly take so long to try on clothes, she noticed a man sitting down beside her. Since he was more interesting than dresses, she risked a glance at him, and instantly regretted it. There was something about him that made her want to shift further down the bench to get away.

The man looked to be slightly younger than her, but already had pure white hair which he'd pulled back into a ponytail. He was probably about the same height as Cathy, and thin, so he appeared even taller. His cheeks were slightly hollow and his blue eyes glittered coldly, though he was attempting to mask that with a self-satisfied smirk. He was obviously proud of his appearance and carried himself like he owned the place.

_Which, judging by that suit, _thought Cathy, _he just might._

The newcomer noticed her looking at him and smiled. "Waiting for someone?" he asked.

Cathy nodded. "My niece. Won't let me near her. That age, you know." She laughed nervously, willing this creepy man to go away. He didn't. Instead, he nodded and looked at where her hands were fidgeting in her lap.

"No wedding band?" he asked curiously. "I'd think a woman like you would have been taken long ago."

"I'm going through a divorce," Cathy said coldly, glad of an excuse to finally edge away. He whistled sympathetically.

"I'm sorry. Another woman?"

Cathy snorted derisively. "He doesn't have the spine."

"Another man, then? You met someone else?"

"No!" _How could he even insinuate that? This ... snake doesn't even know my name._ Cathy began scanning the clothing store for a sign of Danielle, so she could use the girl as an excuse to leave. The white-haired man continued as if he hadn't heard her answer.

"Because I think getting a divorce just because you _might_ have feelings for someone else isn't a good reason, whether you're male _or_ female."

That was going too far. Cathy stood up and turned to him angrily. "It _was_ for a good reason, thank you very much. I don't care _who_ you are, but you have _no right_ to suggest that sort of thing. I bet you're just bitter because someone jilted you. Well, get over it. Move on. Get a cat."

The man on the bench looked like he was about to lunge at her in anger. _Nobody_ said that sort of thing to him and got away with it. This woman was going to pay.

Cathy turned around and noticed a black ponytail behind a rank of t-shirts. She exhaled in relief.

"I'd better go. There's my niece now." She went into the store without even looking back.

---

Dani had noticed Vlad lurking in a bookstore as she and Cathy were about to enter the clothing store, and instantly hit on the plan of escaping while "in the changeroom." She stubbornly refused Cathy's help, even though the woman was picking out some pretty neat stuff, and dashed into the stall as soon as she could. Then she put on an outfit and phased through the wall. She'd made it to the entrance when she ran into what appeared to be an orange wall. Dani staggered backwards and looked up.

"Danny?" asked a woman's voice.

"Y-yes ..." How did they know her name? The people she'd run into registered then._ Crud. Danny's parents. Do they know about me?_

The man in the orange jumpsuit lifted her up and held her close to his face, squinting at her.

"You're a girl!" he boomed.

"Uh ... yes?" _Of course I'm a girl. What else would I be?_

"Who did this to you? Was it a ghost?" Jack began to look around the mall frantically. Maddie smacked his elbow lightly.

"Jack, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this. Put Danny down. Now sweetie," she said, turning to the stunned girl, "what happened?"

_They don't know about me, or they'd have realized who I was. Well, if they know about Danny and Vlad, I can probably trust them. _

"I-I'm not Danny. I'm Dani. As in Danielle. I'm a ..." She was cut off by a tenor voice approaching behind her.

"Dani? What are you doing here? Oh, hey, Mom, Dad ... this is awkward."

The Fentons looked from Danny to Dani in shock and confusion for a moment before Maddie managed to gasp out a "Wha?"

Danny shifted his weight nervously from where he was standing behind Danielle. "She's my, uh, clone, Danielle. I'll explain later. I really need to talk to her right now." He smiled and pulled her away from the entrance, and got down on his knees to look her in the eye.

"Look, Dani, it's nice to see you again, I was worried, but what are you doing here?"

"Shopping."

Danny glared at her. "I _meant_ in Amity Park."

Dani giggled. "Oh, uh, Spirit found me in the Ghost Zone? And Cathy's buying me clothes," she added.

"You're staying with Lancer?" the older boy asked in amazement. _He's taking in stray children now? Does he know who ...? He must. We're too similar, especially as ghosts. And I think I've mentioned her before._

Dani nodded. "Yeah, he let me stay on the couch last night. I came here after school yesterday."

"Ghost school?"

She nodded again. Danny looked back at where his parents were standing staring at them, and sighed. "Okay. I'm going to come by there tonight and you're going to tell me everything, all right? Now you'd better get back before Cathy misses you."

He stood up, looked at her pointedly, and went to explain about her to his parents. Dani stood for a moment, torn between returning to the changeroom and making a second break for it. She decided that if the Fentons were at the mall, Vlad wasn't likely to try anything, and if he did, she wouldn't have to fight because Danny would instead, so she slipped back through the crowd to the store. Cathy joined her a few minutes later looking furious about something, but Dani didn't ask.

---

When Lancer finally made it home at seven o'clock that night, he found Cathy taking a casserole out of the oven. He dropped his briefcase and let his coat slide off his shoulders onto the floor. His day had been completely exhausting, with meetings to organize the upcoming lecture. He'd barely even gotten time for lunch.

Cathy heard him come in and turned around to greet him. "Hey. Tough day?"

"Mm-hmm. I didn't think meetings could be so tiring." _And that picture of Spirit on Helena's computer screen when I went for coffee didn't help. _Lancer collapsed in a kitchen chair. "How was your day with Dani?"

"Pretty good. Except for this, this ... _fruitloop_ who decided to share his opinions on marriage with me." Cathy waved her hand in the air in irritation. The man had really gotten to her. Lancer perked up at the mention of "fruitloop."

"What did he look like?" he asked stiffly.

"White hair, fancy suit, felt like an oil slick personified ... Suggested that I'm divorcing Matt for another guy."

"What?!" Lancer shot out of the chair, eyes blazing neon blue. "He said _what_?!" _Vlad's going to regret crossing that line. _No one _says those things about _anybody, especially _Cathy_.

"Woah, woah." Cathy held her arms out, palms facing Lancer. "It's nothing to get upset about..."

"Yes, it _is_. He..., he..., he had no _right_." Lancer's fist hit the table. "I understand everything else, but _you_?"

By this point, Cathy was completely lost. She wasn't about to let that show, though, so grabbed Lancer's arm and forced him to stop pacing. "William, _calm down_. He probably didn't realize..."

Lancer stood up forcefully to make eye contact with his friend. "Oh, you bet he realized..." He became aware of his rage then and relaxed. "You're right. I'm going to go get out of this tie."

On his way to his room, he passed Dani on the couch. She looked up at him curiously, wondering what the yelling had been about. Lancer caught her eye.

"Vlad got to Cathy."

"At the mall?" she asked. Lancer looked at her in surprise. "I saw him. Tried to run away before he saw me. Danny found me and made me stay. Oh, and Danny's coming by to talk to me later too."

"Cathy know this?"

"Nope!"

Lancer rolled his eyes and went into his bedroom. That girl was incredibly similar to Danny at that age. A minute or so later, Cathy knocked on his door.

"Dinner's ready, William, if you're up to it."

Lancer returned to the kitchen to find a steaming square of casserole on his plate and Cathy serving a bouncy Dani. Cathy looked up and smiled warmly at him, letting him know that she was going to ignore his outburst for the moment. He sat down and soon the three of them were eating and chatting about mundane topics.

They were clearing the table half an hour later when both Lancer and Dani shivered and stiffened. Cathy tensed up too upon seeing their reaction.

"Just me!" called a voice. Phantom came into view in the living room doorway, and the rest of the apartment relaxed. "Hey Dani, Will, uh, it's Cathy, right?"

Cathy nodded, taking advantage of the ghost's closeness to examine his appearance. The black jumpsuit she'd last seen him in was still there, but the body under it had filled out more, and he very definitely had the beginnings of a six-pack now. The ghost stood (floated) about six feet tall as well and his face had become more adult. Her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion.

_Did he go through puberty last summer? Is that possible?_

Phantom continued. "So, uh, Will, is it okay if I borrow Dani for a bit? We need to catch up and, uh, stuff."

Lancer fought to keep a straight face. " Of course. Just don't keep her too late. She's still a little weak."

"Hey!" Dani crossed her arms and glared at Lancer.

"Thanks," Phantom grinned. "I will. So, Dani, wanna go flying?"

"You bet!" She summoned her ghost form and leapt into the air to join her "original," who then took off through the ceiling after giving a mock salute to Lancer. Dani copied him to the letter, grinning.

Cathy raised an eyebrow and looked at Lancer. "I can see the similarities. So now it's just us, mind explaining that outburst earlier?"

Lancer groaned. _I knew this was coming. Maybe I can delay a bit, come up with a good lie. I don't think telling the truth would help matters much right now._

"Let's finish the dishes first?" he suggested.

"They can wait."

_Well, there goes _that. "Fine." Lancer sighed. "Let's go into the den." He walked over to the couch, expecting Cathy to follow him. She began to, but at that moment the doorbell rang, and being closest to the door, she answered it.

"Ah, hello, my dear," said a smooth male voice. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. I was wondering if I could speak with William a moment?"

_Thanks to Golden Lunar Eclipse for letting me use her idea for when Dani and the Fentons meet. Yeah for random plot bunnies you don't know what to do with!_


	7. Reasoning

Thanks to HiddenAuthor, Snickerer, egytianqueen777, wfea, and YumeTakato. 

**Chapter 7: Reasoning**

_I don't own Danny Phantom_.

"Just a moment," Cathy said to the man at the door, her voice as bitingly sweet as she could make it. She walked grimly back to Lancer's living room and spoke again. "That fruitloop's at the door for you."

Lancer, who'd been just about to sit in the recliner when the doorbell rang, turned towards her, eyes back to glowing neon.

"Is he now..." He growled as he stalked into the entranceway to confront Vlad and Cathy inconspicuously positioned herself in the doorway so she could watch a little. The amount of anger William was displaying towards this man worried her.

"I thought we'd established that you couldn't beat us, Vlad," Lancer spat. Cathy noticed faint traces of ectoplasmic energy crackling around his hand. Sure this guy was creepy, but _that_ creepy? Apparently so.

Vlad chuckled. "Yes, William, we _have_, haven't we? Anyway, I'm not here to fight you. I simply want to take my daughter home."

Lancer's body got even tenser than it had been. "She's not your daughter," he said in an angry monotone.

"Really? Then whose is she?" Vlad asked innocently.

"Daughter implies that she either has your DNA or your love. I know for a fact she has neither." The ectoenergy had formed a globe around Lancer's fist now.

"Oh, but William, I've spent the last year and a half looking for the girl. You can't begin to imagine my relief..."

Lancer cut him off harshly. "No, you haven't. I know the resources you have. If you'd wanted to find her, you would have. You probably thought she would die. So you being here is just part of whatever sick scheme you're working on right now, and you're not getting Dani just to put her through more pain. She's had it rough enough already." The coats beside him began to sway. "Like I said before, you can't beat us, Vlad. Go home."

"Then at least allow me to provide for the girl..."

"I'll consider that," Lancer conceded grudgingly. "You are responsible for her, after all."

"Then you admit that she's..."

"SHE'S NOT YOUR DAUGHTER!" roared Lancer, the umbrella stand shaking in place. "And while I'm at it, what you said to Cathy is completely inexcusable and a lie! I didn't think even _you_ would stoop to that level." The level and pitch of his voice dropped. "Now get out of my sight before I lose my temper."

"Very well, William." Vlad bowed in mock humility and strode off down the hall with a smirk. Lancer slammed the door and turned back to the living room, only to see a frightened woman facing him, eyes wide in shock. The thoughts running through her mind were plain to read: _I knew he was powerful, but God, I _never_ want to be on the receiving end of _that. _He could have killed that man. _

Lancer forced himself to calm down, and the signs of his ghost-half disappeared. Cathy moved out of his way as he pushed past her into the living room. She summoned the courage to speak, then.

"So, that explanation can wait..."

"Good." Lancer didn't even stop as he continued through the living room and shut the door of the bathroom loudly. Cathy stared at it for several minutes, trying to get over the shock of whatever had just happened, during which Lancer began to run a bath. Then she sat down in the recliner and started to work things out on her own.

---

Cathy was reading a book she'd pulled off one of Lancer's shelves when a voice behind her said, "Hi, Cathy!" She jumped and her book flew up in the air. She turned around to see Phantom hitting Dani in her ghost form and looking like a parent disciplining a child. He turned to Cathy and grinned shyly.

"Sorry. Forgot you couldn't sense us. Where's L-Will?" Phantom said.

Cathy pointed to the bathroom. Phantom began to look very worried.

"How long's he been in there?"

"A couple hours," she told him. "I'm really starting to worry too."

"A couple hours?" The ghost was shocked."He's never been that upset before. What happened?"

"Somebody called Vlad happened." Phantom's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, so Cathy went on, sensing a further explanation was in order. "He arrived just after you two left, asked to speak to William. Sounded like he wanted to take Dani with him. Said she was his daughter."

"I'm not his daughter!" Dani protested. Cathy looked at her.

"That's what William said." She turned her eyes back to Phantom, who'd descended onto the top of the couch. "I've never seen him get this angry before, except maybe earlier today."

"Earlier?" Phantom asked. "What happened then?" He glanced at his clone and added, "Dani, you're sagging. Go human."

"I mentioned meeting Vlad at the mall when I took Dani shopping, and how he'd hinted that, well, that I'm leaving my husband for another man. William just sort of blew up about it. I was going to get an explanation when Vlad showed up again. And he's been in _there,_" she jerked a thumb towards the closed bathroom door, where the water was finally draining from the tub, "ever since."

"I _told_ you he was at the mall," Dani said to Phantom from the chair she'd just claimed. "I _told _you."

"Fine, Dani, you win." He pulled a hackysack out of somewhere and threw it at her, then buried his face in his hands. "I just wish I knew what he was doing this time..."

"This time?" asked Cathy pointedly. "He's done stuff like this _before_?"

Lancer appeared at the bathroom door then and walked up behind Phantom. He laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and the ghost turned to face him. Lancer looked at him seriously.

"We need to talk." He led the way into his bedroom and shut the door. Cathy and Dani look at each other awkwardly. What was left to say at a time like this? They sat in the uncomfortable silence, listening to the muted snippets of argument drifting out into the living room.

"...can't keep this up... we have to..."

"No... in danger then..."

"...protect herself..."

"...fruitloop before..."

"...we tell her..."

"..._can't_..."

Then Cathy and Dani distinctly heard the sound of a pop music ringtone. Cathy blinked in surprise. _That's not William's. What is Phantom doing with a cell phone? And who's calling him?_

---

Danny pulled the phone out of his jumpsuit, looked at the display, and flipped it open quickly. "Hey Jazz! Got anything?" he asked eagerly.

His sister sighed exasperatedly. "Of _course_. Would I be calling if I _didn't_?"

"Hit me." Danny flopped onto the bed. Jazz took a deep breath and began.

"Okay, well, I took a look at everything you told me, and immediately thought, this isn't like Vlad. Vlad doesn't do this sort of thing. So then I thought, maybe he's being overshadowed? But he's too strong to let that happen..."

"Jazz..." Danny said testily.

"Okay, okay. So I kept thinking about it all weekend, and finally it hit me last night..."

"Last _night_?!" Danny interrupted. "Why didn't you phone then?" _Could have saved us a lot of trouble today._

"I had to test my theory against the evidence, Danny," she explained patiently.

"'Kay." Danny rolled his eyes. "So..."

"So he's desperate, Danny. He's spent twenty-two years plotting, and now all of a sudden it's gone completely up in smoke. He's trying to get everything back the way it was."

"And this isn't like Vlad _how_?" _Sounds loopy enough to me..._

"He's not thinking things through. I don't think he even considered that Mom and Dad would dismiss that quiz, for instance. And I bet he was planning on the Fan Club tearing you guys apart."

"As if."

"Exactly," Jazz agreed. "He's acting rashly and isn't thinking of the outcomes. And I almost think he doesn't want to be doing this either, but can't see the other options."

Danny grinned when he heard that. "Weaknesses. Thanks Jazz! Oh, and could you phone Mom and Sam and tell them? I'm kind of in the middle of something at Lancer's."

"Sure," Jazz said. "I'll let you get back to it, then. Bye!"

"Bye Jazz. And thanks again." Danny closed the phone, stood up, and turned to where Lancer was waiting patiently for a run-down of the conversation. "Vlad's doing this because he doesn't know what else to do. And he's started being impulsive about everything."

"Clutching at straws..." Lancer said thoughtfully. "But how do we fight that? It's all psychological."

"I don't know," Danny sighed. "We'll think of something. We always do."

"True." Lancer nodded. "I _still_ think we need to tell Cathy, though."

"Yeah. Probably." Danny stood up reluctantly. "She'd better be prepared for anything. Who knows what he'll try next. "

"Good." Lancer smiled at having won the argument and opened the door. "Shall we?"

As they left the room, Cathy rose from the recliner, crossed her arms, and tilted her head to look at them. She'd heard just enough of the telephone conversation to get even more suspicious.

"So, who's going first?" she asked, voice tight with irritation. "Is it going to be the guy with anger issues or the ghost with a cell phone and a clone?"

Danny turned red and looked at the ground briefly. Then he pointed to Lancer and grinned. "You first."

Lancer was about to turn it back on Danny when he unfortunately made eye contact with Cathy. He sighed, and sat down.

"I guess we do owe you an explanation for today, especially me." He sighed again. "Where do you want to start?"

"Vlad," she stated, the name already holding the edge of distaste that Danny and Lancer used for it. "Who is he and why does he get you so angry?"

"Vlad is our archenemy," Lancer said, indicating himself and Danny. "A halfa, like me, but an evil one. You may have heard of Vlad Masters, the billionaire..."

Cathy nodded, but raised her eyebrows as well. "That's _him_? Sure leaves a different impression in person."

"Yeah," continued Lancer. "Apart from some major psychological issues,.."

"Fruitloop," muttered Danny, who'd seated himself on the television by this point.

Lancer continued. "Vlad's trying to get me and Da- Phantom in league with him. Seems like he's trying again."

"And, let me guess, he cloned Danielle?"

Dani nodded from where she'd lain herself on the couch. "Yeah. But then I helped Danny instead of him, and ran away."

"He was trying to create a second me," Danny explained. "Wants me as a son."

"I _see_." _Fruitloop's too nice a term for him._ "Okay, Phantom, your turn." Danny gulped. "I get the clone bit. Why the cell phone?"

"It's kind of more than just the phone..." He hopped off the TV. "See, um, there are actually four halfas..." Two glowing rings appeared at his waist and changed the jumpsuit into a green t-shirt and khakis. Cathy's eyes widened.

"You're that kid William's tutoring... Danny." _Wait, Danny, Dani...Vlad isn't very original, is he?_

"Yeah. And the, uh, phone..." Danny nervously pulled it out of his pocket to use as a prop, but it wedged in the opening. Cathy was about to tell him that she understood the phone business now, when another tug pulled the phone free with enough force to go flying. Lancer instinctively reached out an arm for it and the projectile stopped in midair.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the phone. Then they slowly turned their heads to look at Lancer, who was just as stunned at what had happened as they were. After what seemed like hours of silence, but was probably more like a minute, Danny spoke weakly.

"That's new." He grabbed his phone and pocketed it. "Since when could you do _that_?"

"I don't know," replied Lancer, his voice shaking. He lowered his arm. "It just happened. I didn't even know I _could_."

"Telekinesis?" Dani asked breathlessly, pulling herself upright. "You can do telekinesis? That's _awesome_!"

"It _is_ a pretty cool power, William," Cathy remarked encouragingly.

"I suppose." Lancer slumped. _Now I've got to worry about new powers all over again. Great._

"We'll have to test you," said Danny. "See what sorts of things you're limited to, distances, control, length of time, weight..." He started ticking the points off on his fingers. Lancer groaned and cradled his head in his hands. Danny hastily shifted gears. "But that can wait until after we deal with Vlad." His watch beeped. "Crud. I've got patrol. So strategy meeting my place tomorrow, fourish?"

"No." Lancer shook his head. "That gives Vlad a whole day. We need a plan to deal with him _now_."

"Well," Danny said thoughtfully, "if he's grabbing at straws, we've gotta show him even that won't work."

"Good point," Lancer agreeed. "Okay, we basically know what he's trying to do to each person, right? We'll just do the opposite. Until tomorrow, your place, fourish." He grinned, as did Danny, who summoned his transformation rings.

"I'd better get going then. I'll try to drop in on everyone to tell them, and if not, well, I'll see them at school tomorrow. Dani, be good. See ya!" He flew off through the ceiling. Lancer, who was quickly getting better at recognizing potential "conversation" topics, hastily stood up and faked a yawn. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite convincing enough, because Cathy folded her arms again and looked at him sharply.

"What does he mean, 'see them at school tomorrow'? There's more than just you two fighting?"

Lancer sighed. "Yes. When Danny started out, a couple of his friends helped him. They've stayed on, as has another girl who basically did it freelance. They're all in his grade. And of course," he added, "Danny's parents are some of the leading ghost researchers in the country, especially after Danny and I told them our secrets."

"They didn't _know_?" Cathy asked in disbelief. _How could they not know their son was half-ghost? How blind would you have to be? Well, I guess he _does _look different _enough_, but still…_

"No, they didn't. See, pretty soon after Danny started being Phantom, they started trying to capture him. He was a little afraid to tell after that." Lancer chuckled. "The whole town was against him, and it took a lot of work on my part to fix things."

"Did you design the action figures too?" asked Dani, leaning forward excitedly.

"What? No! That was Jack Fenton."

"Oh." Dani's voice saddened for a moment before she perkily added, "He was playing with them tonight, you know. Showed me Skulker one that can shoot real ectoenergy, except it keeps exploding."

Lancer blinked. "Danny took you to meet his parents?"

"I, uh, kinda ran into them at the mall," Dani mumbled, embarrassed. "I saw Vlad and tried to run away." Both Cathy and Lancer winced in sympathy and concern for her, thanking the stars that Vlad hadn't taken the girl then, or now. Cathy moved over to the couch and drew the girl up in a hug.

"It's okay, Dani," she told the girl. "We're not going to let him take you." She looked worriedly over Dani's black ponytail to Lancer, who gave her a similar look back.

With a warm tone of concern, he said, "You've had a long day, Dani. I'm sure you're tired."

The girl pulled herself out of the hug and turned to look at Lancer. "Danny gets to stay up," she whined.

"Danny has patrol. You don't."

"I'm not tired!" she protested, standing up. Then she had to stifle a yawn. Lancer raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Jeez." Dani stomped off to the bathroom. Cathy sighed and leaned back into the couch pillows.

"I've just been fully inducted into the Great Amity Park Secret, haven't I, William?" she asked wryly. "God, I feel like I'm in the middle of a movie or something."

Lancer laughed softly and sat on the arm of the couch beside her. "I feel like that every day. Welcome to Amity Park, where the paranormal is normal."

Cathy opened one eye at that. "Nice catchphrase. You just think of it?"

"Look, Cathy, about Vlad ... We basically proved to him, oh, six months ago now, that he can't beat Team Phantom anymore. Now he seems to be trying to break us up any way he can to restore the old status quo. Danny and I think that doing the opposite of what he wants to happen will convince him we're invincible again, hopefully get him to stop this revenge thing completely."

"So? What did he want with me?" Cathy asked in a puzzled tone. _How did he even know ... oh, right, supervillains always have omnipotent knowledge, don't they?_

Lancer pondered this for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "He was trying to get you to go back to Matt, I think. Make you feel guilty about leaving him." _And get at me in the process. _

"But why'd he think there was another man?" the woman replied. "I'm not even looking at the moment."

"Yes, but you _are_ living with me, Cathy. He probably assumed..."

_That William and I are involved? Ha. It didn't work in high school, and it won't work now. He'll never have the guts to ask._ Cathy smiled and turned her head to face his. "Yeah, you're probably right. Complete fruitloop. So how do I do the opposite? Just stay?"

"Yes! Ah, I mean, yes, that sounds logical." Lancer turned a little red. "But you'd still better watch out for him tomorrow. He's been known to change plans in an instant." He stood up and stretched. "Well, I've got to keep working on that lecture. I'll be in the kitchen."

Cathy sat up and began to call after him when a girl, dressed in a white and red hoodie and baggy jeans materialized directly in front of her. Cathy squeaked and jumped backwards. Dani just giggled.

"Are you _sure_ he's not your boyfriend?"

"Of course! Now go to bed."

Dani laid down on the couch, but kept laughing and shooting looks at Cathy, who glared back when she caught her. Eventually the girl fell asleep and Cathy headed off to bed as well, after telling Lancer to do the same.


	8. Nerves

_Thanks to Snickerer, FunkyFish1991, wfea, egyptianqueen777, and YumeTakato for their reviews._

**Chapter 8: Nerves**

_I don't own Danny Phantom or Ghost World._

Danny Fenton walked up to Sam Manson's front door Wednesday morning feeling both happy and apprehensive. He and Sam had had a discussion regarding Vlad after patrol the night before, and Sam had suggested the plan he was just about to initiate as a counterattack. They'd also come to the conclusion that Vlad's plan with the Fan Club was to play off Danny's (former) obsession with Paulina and, as Jazz had suggested, tear his group of friends apart.

_Man, I hope nobody kills me for this,_ Danny thought as he rang Sam's doorbell_. I can think of a couple who might._

Luckily for Danny, Sam answered the door instead of her parents. She quickly shut it behind her and looked at Danny, slightly concerned.

"You sure you're okay with this?" she asked. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sam, really." Danny laughed nervously. "Well, other than being afraid of your parents..."

"Relax. They left for Hawaii this morning."

Danny's body lost its tension, and he turned red. "So, the first move would be...?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Holding hands, Danny. No one's going to think we're dating if we don't touch." She slipped her hand into his after he still looked hesitant about it and pulled him down the steps. "We've got to keep this up all day if it's going to work, so you've got to get into it."

"Right. Okay." _How am I going to do that, though? I mean, I like Sam and all, but she's got this thing about romance, and doesn't think of me as a boyfriend. I'm just a friend to her._

"So," Sam asked after a moment, "what's the game plan for everyone else? You talked to them last night too, right?"

"Uh-huh," Danny nodded. "Tucker's going overboard on the tech, but I don't think anyone will notice, even Vlad. And Val's going to act normal, but if she sees Vlad at all, even as Masters, she's going after him."

"Okay, and your parents? Lancer? Jazz?"

"Uh, I've told Jazz the plan, but I don't know what she's doing with it. My folks are just ignoring the quiz, 'cause they can't be better parents than they already are, and Lancer, well, Vlad hasn't gone for him yet. He went after Cathy, though, and Dani. I guess that's like the fan club thing. Get him by getting his friends. Or something, anyway. Uh, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

Sam gave his hand a squeeze. "No. Not yet." She groaned. "God, that fan club thing starts today, doesn't it? Think there's any way we can ditch?"

"I dunno. Maybe if there's a ghost or something, they'd be distracted enough to forget about us?"

"Maybe," Sam conceded. "But then Phantom would show up, right? And we'd all have to show up to watch."

Danny groaned and rolled his eyes. "What I wouldn't give to duplicate like Spirit."

Sam squeezed his hand. "You'll get there in time. Anyway, I did this last night..." Sam let go of Danny to slip her jacket off and showed Danny an image of Phantom on her upper arm. "Think Paulina will like it? Don't worry, it's not permanent."

Danny inspected the tattoo. "Oh, yeah, Paulina will totally love _that_. Especially since you got the eye colour wrong," he teased.

"Hey, I had limited resources!" Sam put her jacket back on. "We'd better starting hurrying if we want to make it on time."

"No problem. I'll fly us." Danny looked around carefully, then the two of them ducked behind a clump of bushes on someone's front lawn and Danny went ghost. He picked Sam up bridal style and took to the air. Within minutes they were at school. Danny transformed back to human beneath a picnic table, then awkwardly grabbed Sam's hand again and walked with her into the school.

As they were walking down the hallway to their lockers, the noise and commotion stopped and a rush of whisperings and catcalls started up behind them. Danny and Sam both reddened despite their best efforts not to, and when they finally reached Danny's locker Sam gave him a timid peck on the cheek, amidst a lot of yelling and applause. Danny blushed deeper, grabbed his books, and headed to study hall.

Tucker was already sitting in his seat when Danny shuffled in. He looked up from his PDA as his friend plopped onto the seat beside him.

"Operation Complete Breakfast A going well?" he asked, grinning.

"Dunno," Danny answered. "Vlad probably hasn't even seen us yet. Everyone else seems to be enjoying it, though. Have they been expecting this or something?" He sounded puzzled.

Tucker fought to keep a straight face at that comment. "Uh, I wouldn't know, dude," he answered in an equally confused tone. "I'm a technogeek, remember? Social interactions aren't my thing." He gestured to his outfit, into which he'd somehow managed to fit six PDAs, two game systems, three cell phones, and a graphing calculator.

Danny examined his friend's appearance and raised a questioning eyebrow. "I think you outdid yourself on the geek thing. No offense."

"None taken," grinned Tucker, pulling out a PDA again and beginning to play with it. "I just feel sorry for the tech I had to leave at home." Danny rolled his eyes, and slipped off into a daydream.

They were both called back to attention by the second bell and reluctantly pulled out their books. Mr. Spears had the same high expectations and attitude towards slackers that Lancer had had, and that applied to study hall as well as English. He didn't give out quite as many detentions as his predecessor, however, which was nice. The class itself passed fairly uneventfully, though there were a few whispered conversations regarding Casper High's newest "couple" that Danny tried to ignore.

When the bell rang to end the class, Danny and Tucker headed to history. Sam joined them in the hall and Danny slipped his arm around her waist (for show). For her part, Sam moved closer to Danny. She was going to exploit Operation Complete Breakfast to the fullest, and if she was lucky Danny would cease to be clueless by the end of the day. Sam wasn't getting her hopes up, though, because her luck stank and she knew it.

By the end of history, the three friends were thoroughly ready for lunch. Valerie joined them at their table in the cafeteria, an unidentifiable brown mass on her plate.

"Man, and I thought the Nasty Chili was bad...," she complained as she sat down.

"You have no idea how bad that sounds from a shift manager," Sam replied, spearing a piece of lettuce.

Val laughed. "Trust me, Sam, I _do_. Anyway, you and Danny are the talk of the school. Congratulations."

"We're just doing it to get at Vlad," Danny said defensively. "I told you that last night."

"Clueless." Val dipped her spork into the goop on her plate, lifted it up, and flipped it over. The goop didn't fall off. She looked at it with distaste, and Sam pushed her lunch bag over. Val thanked her, looking extremely grateful.

The talk at their table quickly turned from romance and scary food to theories about Vlad's reaction to Breakfast. Danny and Valerie, being the two who knew the man best, had just escalated the discussion into a debate when Paulina waltzed over.

"Hi!" she chirped. "Mind if I sit with you guys today? We can trade stories about Phantom!"

The quartet already seated exchanged nervous glances. Paulina was definitely not acting herself lately.

"Uh... sure, I guess," Danny said after an awkward moment. At those words, Val moved over to give Paulina room to sit down. The popular girl slid into the seat gracefully.

"So, everyone, favourite fight you've seen?" she asked eagerly. "You first, Techy."

"It's Tucker," the boy in question answered. "Why are you talking to us anyway? Aren't you worried about what your friends will think?"

"No, not really," Paulina said airily. "I'm bonding with new club members. It's what presidents _do_."

"All _right_ then," Sam muttered darkly as she speared a piece of lettuce. Paulina chose to ignore her.

"So, fight?" she repeated. "C'mon, if you've got footage..."

"Right." Tucker blushed at the attention and the effort to come up with a safe reply. "Uh... he saved me from a ghost once. That was pretty cool."

Paulina nodded, and pointed at Val next. The girl stuttered a moment, then mentioned the fight with Pariah Dark. The others at the table nodded in agreement. That had been an amazing battle, and a great moment for Phantom too.

"I didn't like how he needed Huntress for that, though. He's strong enough on his own," Paulina said offhandedly, taking a bite out of her sandwich. Valerie's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Well, obviously not," Danny said before things got out of control, "or she wouldn't have been helping, right? That Dark guy, he was pretty strong." He even managed to weave tones of admiration into his voice for that. Sam was impressed.

"Well, _Paulina_," the goth announced scathingly, "Phantom saved me from a ghost once too."

"Oh, was that when you kissed him?" Paulina asked indifferently. "I never really believed you when you said you were overshadowed. And he's saved me _hundreds _of times, so you're wasting your time chasing after him."

"Okay, so maybe I kissed him to thank him," Sam shot back. "It's not like he really kissed back or anything. And it doesn't matter anyway, 'cause I've got Danny now." She pulled the halfa closer to her for emphasis and glared a challenge at the hispanic girl across from her.

When it looked like Paulina was going to respond to the challenge, Danny deftly changed the topic to the Fan Club itself.

"Well, there's a meeting at four today, in the gym," Paulina told them. "We're going to be practicing the Phantom Cheer, and you'll have to be introduced to everyone."

"Oh, crap!" exclaimed Valerie, slamming her spork onto the table in feigned exasperation. "I just remembered. Irving put me on tonight at the last minute. I can't come to the meeting." Her friends looked at her with envy for coming up with a good excuse to get out of the obligation. Paulina sniffed.

"You'll just have to come out to the tracking session, then, won't you, _Valerie_?" she said. "To make it up to everyone. We'll be _so_ disappointed."

Valerie gave a faint smile in response. Danny paled.

"T-tracking session?" he asked.

"Yeah. We get together on Saturdays and go out to show our support for Phantom." Paulina sounded like she expected Danny to know. He wished he'd known sooner.

"Anyway," Paulina continued, standing up, "I think I've talked to you guys enough today. Don't want people to think I'm a geek or anything, right? That would totally ruin my image. So, see you three at four, okay? Bye!" She waltzed off, and as she rejoined the A-list table, she added mentally and with a smirk, _There, I've done them two favours. They owe me. And it'll be worth it._

Back at Team Phantom's table, Danny's ghost sense went off as did Val's ghost radar wristband.

"I'll get this one, Danny," Val said, standing up. "Don't sweat it."

"But it could be Vlad!" her friend protested.

"Yeah. That's why I'm going. If it is and I'm having trouble, I'll beep you for backup, 'kay?"

As a group, the Team had decided that the extra five seconds it took to _walk_ somewhere safe rather than _run_ didn't make much difference in the level of damage a ghost caused, and that running was actually more conspicuous and would get them noticed faster. So now Val walked quickly out of the cafeteria to find a place to change.

---

The midafternoon sun shone through the closed venetian blinds of Vlad Masters' hotel room in Amity Park, illuminating the billionaire in a pale yellow light. He was sitting in front of his computer checking stock prices and working on his schemes, cursing himself for not being able to focus harder. Suddenly a window popped up at the bottom of the screen: YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Vlad clicked it idly to open the message, somewhat glad for the distraction, and began reading.

**Dear Vlad,**

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave me at Yale. The newspaper article was a stroke of sheer genius. Congratulations for ruining my weekend, and thank you for finding me a friend here.

My brother has informed me of your recent actions in Amity Park, and I have given thought to them. I know now just how sick and twisted you've become over the years. As a result, I am not overly hurt by the article (or the e-mail), since you were not in your right mind. Still I believe there is hope for redemption, and I think that you still hold that hope as well.

I know that you know you can't enact any of your schemes anymore and that you can never kill Dad, marry Mom, and corrupt my brother like you dreamed. I know you've come to terms with it and are ready to move on. But you can't, can you? You've spent so much of your life working on your schemes you don't know what else there could possibly be for someone like you. Trust me, there are plenty of options. To start off, why don't you try apologizing to my family? You're first and foremost their oldest friend, and even after February Dad still has hope you'll be his friend again. They'd forgive you in an instant, though they wouldn't trust you completely, and Danny would too, given time. You have done some pretty horrible things to him.

I think with a bit of help, you can get out of the rut you're in permanently. I know you're not a bad guy, deep down. There are a lot of opportunities for one of the richest men in America, and you should be able to find the right fit for you fairly easily, especially with my family helping.

You don't need to continue with your schemes, Vlad. You're not even doing them well anymore. If it helps, think of it as graciously moving on rather than giving up.

Yours sincerely,  
Jazz Fenton

Vlad read through the e-mail twice, and surprised himself with how calm he was at the end of it. Even a few months ago he would have been fuming by that point, and already working on another plan. But the thing was, this girl, this daughter of Jack Fenton, had hit the nail on the head.

Vlad knew his heart wasn't in it anymore. It had slowly begun to dawn on him over the last while that Maddie did belong with Jack, even if it hurt him to think so. Daniel had too much of his parents' stubbornness to give in, and as loathe as Vlad was to admit it, the boy was actually quite intelligent. And then there was the matter of William's influence in the whole mess.

With these new thoughts had come an unwillingness to continue, but he'd simply put too much time and money into scheming to stop now. Vlad may have become a billionaire by using his ghost powers, but he'd stayed a billionaire by pinching pennies. No, Vlad was going to continue for a while longer. He hadn't exhausted his possibilities yet.

But perhaps Jasmine was right about his schemes this time round. Vlad was aware he hadn't thought them through quite as thoroughly as he normally did, that he was losing his touch. If she and Daniel were on to him, the rest of their little group would as well, and the swiftness of the discovery didn't bode well. So the subtle plans were out the window now, and that meant he'd have to try manipulating them in person.

Vlad sighed as he stood up from the computer and transformed into Plasmius, then went invisible and flew off towards the center of town. He didn't fly as quickly as he usually did, but told himself it was only to give himself time to plan.


	9. Thwarted

_Man, this is a long chapter. Serves me right for basically rewriting the whole thing... _

_Thanks to ghostlover15, YumeTakato, HiddenAuthor, Snickerer, wfea, and egyptianqueen777 for the reviews._

**Chapter 9: Thwarted**

_I don't own Danny Phantom or Ghost World._

At 3:50 pm William Lancer was sitting in his car at an intersection, waiting for the light to change and going over plans for the evening in his head. A slight vibration on his chest accompanied by a hiss of static roused him.

"Clueless Two, this is Clueless One. Do you read me? Over."

Lancer looked down at the Fenton Tie Clip that was his personal version of the Fenton Phones, since the latter were too conspicuous on his bald head. "Yes," he said. "Over."

"We have a Fruitloop at Learning Central," came Danny's voice. "I repeat, Fruitloop at Learning Central. Requesting backup. Over."

"I'm on my way, Clueless One. Clueless Two, over and out." The light turned green and Lancer drove through, pulling over into an empty parking space. He shut off the ignition and locked the doors, then bent down as if to retrieve something from the floor and muttered, "_Ghost World._" He lingered in the position after his transformation was complete in surprise and confusion as something Danny had said hit home. _Since when have I been Clueless Two?_

Still puzzling over his new nickname, Lancer, or rather Spirit, sped off in the direction of Casper High, hoping to God that Vlad wasn't causing too much damage with whatever it was he was trying to pull this time.

---

"Hey! Goth! Where's your boyfriend?" Paulina's voice was sharp and high-pitched. She wasn't pleased that one of her new club inductees (the one with the ghost-hunting parents) wasn't at the club meeting, especially since there was now a ghost fight raging outside. Phantom and his supposed archenemy, no less.

Sam snapped her head out of a hurried conversation with Tucker. "My ... oooh, um, he's probably already at the fight. He's just _that_ into it." She flashed Paulina a not entirely convincing smile.

"Why didn't you say so?" Star whined. "We've been waiting for him. Let's go girls!" She started running towards the gym's outer doors, and the rest of the Fan Club followed.

As the stampede was getting underway, Sam rolled her eyes, then gave Tucker a nervous glance. _I hope Danny's had enough time to get the situation under control. No telling what Vlad's going to try, and he probably doesn't care about hurting civilians right now. _Then she gave a nod to the technogeek beside her and started running towards the exit.Tucker followed her, with enough male presence of mind to yell out, "And boy!" as he did so.

Sam forced herself to outdistance the rest of the group, so that she would have time to assess the situation and cover for Danny if she had to. She got to the entrance to the field and skidded to a halt, already watching the scene in the air. Danny and Vlad were facing each other in a classic battle position, with the recognizable white and blue of Spirit approaching at close to top speed from the far side of the field. It didn't look like the fight was going to swing in Vlad's favour anytime soon, so Sam relaxed a little, becoming aware of someone approaching from behind. She tensed again, and turned around slowly. This couldn't be Paulina — she and the rest of the fangirls would be struggling across the grass trying not to get their shoes dirty.

When Sam had completed her turn, she switched her body language from "someone's going to abduct me again" to "confusion mixed with surprise." Lancer's girlfriend from the mall (Cathy?) was standing behind her with a puzzled expression. Sam knew that Danny had outed himself to her the night before, so figured going the next step wouldn't hurt.

"You're Cathy, right?" she asked. "Will's ... friend?" The woman blinked, taken aback, and Sam hastily continued. "I'm Sam. I help Danny."

"Oh. Yes, he'd mentioned he had help." Cathy held out a hand, and Sam matched the gesture. "Pleased to meet you. Now, what's going on?"

Sam thought for a moment about how much was all right for Cathy to know, then turned back towards the fight purposefully. "Okay," she began, "so, that other guy's Vlad, and it looks like he's resorted to the Basic Fallback Plan again — If All Else Fails, Attack — but Will and Danny should be able to take him. I didn't see the start of the fight. I got here just before you did." She finished with an apologetic note, and Cathy murmured her thanks.

Spirit had made it to the other two by this point and, while Sam was speaking, had fired a shot at Vlad just as the caped halfa was preparing another blast aimed at Danny. Spirit's blast hit Vlad's right arm dead on, forcing him to flinch and dissipate the ectoenergy that had been cupped in his hand. Danny threw a matching blast at Vlad's shoulder, and the fighting began in earnest. A chorus of squeals started up halfway down the bleachers.

Suddenly Vlad tensed in an odd position and whirled himself around with a beam of ectoplasm. It caught Spirit and Phantom by surprise, and the next moment two blurs, one black-and-white and the other blue-and-white hit the stands fifty feet from Sam and Cathy, accompanied by traces of pink energy. Both women gasped and winced. The fangirls further down cried out almost in unison, and, while the two ghosts were struggling out of the wreckage, started on the Phantom cheer.

Sam rolled her eyes and pulled Cathy to safety underneath the bleachers. Vlad was rapidly closing in on the two good halfas, still too dazed from their crashes to notice him, and someone had to distract Vlad long enough to get them back on their feet.

"It didn't work, Vlad! Everything you tried to do to us backfired!" Sam yelled, cupping her hands to her mouth. Then, on a sudden inspiration, she added, "Maddie's never going to forgive you if you keep fighting!"

Vlad swung his head around, looking for Sam but unable to find her. The momentary distraction was enough for Danny to get his wits about him and send a large blast straight at the blue-skinned ghost, shooting Vlad back about ten feet before he got his bearings again and prepared a counterattack. He sped forward, only to be tackled from the side by one of Lancer's duplicates, who twisted Vlad's injured arm behind him. One more duplicate appeared, and Lancer himself flew up from the bleachers until he was level with Vlad and Danny.

The copies spoke in unison, "You're not going anywhere until you listen, Plasmius."

"That's what _you_ think," Vlad spat, trying to wrench himself free. When his captor's grip proved too firm, he relaxed in defeat and when Spirit seemed to have accepted that Vlad had actually given up, the halfa summoned a duplicate behind Spirit's, ripped it off himself and hurled it into the bleachers where it disintegrated in a flash of light.

Both Vlads then started attacking the two Spirits and Danny, but by this point Vlad had lost some of the element of surprise. His duplicate was hit by a blast from Danny, disappearing like Lancer's had, and Vlad made the fatal error of pausing to summon several more. This allowed Lancer to aim a gust of his ghost breath at him, so that when Vlad was ready to fight again a second later, he found that all his movements were slowed down to a fraction of their intended speed. He struggled briefly for a moment trying to free himself, discovering that even his ectoblasts were slowed in this state. Then he slumped in real defeat and dissolved the duplicates to conserve his energy.

Vlad had gone into the fight knowing that he probably wouldn't emerge the victor, and unable to see a way to change things. Psychological manipulation and physical violence weren't working against the Team, not like they used to, but Vlad was confident that it was only because he'd lost a bit of his competitive edge. Unfortunately, violence and psychology were his only options now — any other kind of coercion had been removed from the picture months ago — but it wasn't too late yet. There were still ways for Vlad to get what he wanted out of life, even if he wasn't completely sure anymore what it was that he wanted. He had the unsettling feeling that it had nothing to do with Amity Park, that Jazmine was right about moving on. Besides, Vlad was pretty much immobile at the moment, and if he antagonized Daniel or William now, he would only suffer needlessly.

"I take it you want to talk?" he asked lazily, pleased to find that his voice didn't seem to be affected.

"Yes, Vlad, we do." Danny entered the ring of duplicates, green eyes glowing brighter than normal. "Look, we've figured you out, okay? You're only doing this because you're used to it. You can do a lot better than this, Vlad."

"That's what your sister said," sneered Vlad with false bravado. "Face it, Daniel. I'm never going to be the good guy. You've known me long enough to be aware of that."

"We're not asking you to be the good guy, Vlad," Lancer cut in. He'd called up another two duplicates for safety, and all three had their arms crossed angrily. "We're just asking you to stop being bad."

"Ah, but I've never really been the bad guy, when you think of it," Vlad chastised mockingly. "You two would benefit from the knowledge I've gained about our kind." He slowly raised a cautionary finger as Danny's mouth opened for a retort, and continued speaking in a kinder, more serious tone.

"I never said you had to join in my schemes, Daniel. You just assumed that from the beginning. But when you did, well," Vlad shrugged, "I knew I had to get at you from some other angle. And I did _so_ want your mother, boy. But you were right, she is happier with your father than she could ever be with me."

"Hold on... You're giving up Mom too?" Danny hadn't been expecting that, and the verbal admission had shocked Vlad too. He hadn't intended to be this honest so quickly. Well, couldn't be helped now. Coming clean about Maddie meant losing the main barrier between Vlad and the Fentons, and if he was going to leave Amity Park behind him, he might as well go all the way.

"_Yes_, Daniel. Maddie is a beautiful, intelligent woman, but if she ever comes to me, it will be entirely her own decision. And yes," Vlad chuckled slightly, "I'm well aware that will never happen."

"So you_ are_ giving up then," the original Lancer said, eyebrow raised. He hadn't expected Vlad to go this easily, and judging by Danny's face, the boy hadn't either. This could very well spell trouble later.

"No," Vlad scoffed. "I'm simply moving on to bigger and better things. I can't fight you two physically or mentally, you've built too strong a network for that. When it was just Daniel, I stood a chance, William, but now... another fight like that last one could do some lasting damage. I'm not willing to take the risk."

Lancer grunted. _Still the calculating coward, then. And I'd hoped he'd changed._

Danny too was somewhat doubtful of Vlad's character shift, but willing to accept it cautiously.

"So what happens now, then?" he asked slowly. "You're going back to Wisconsin and leaving us alone forever?"

"No." Vlad gave a half-smile. "Your sister mentioned that your parents would probably forgive me for everything. I think I might pay them a visit. Perhaps we could start collaborating again."

"So you've forgiven Dad too?" That was even more unexpected. "And when did you talk to Jazz?"

Vlad didn't answer. Instead, he tested his limbs again and found they could move freely again. Lancer noticed this and caught Vlad's arm quickly before the halfa could fly off. Vlad tugged, then sighed and turned his head to look straight into Lancer's eyes.

"Would you be so kind as to release me, William?" he asked politely. "I'm not going to hurt you, and you'd overpower me anyway." Lancer's duplicate slowly released Vlad's arm but stayed tense so he could grab the halfa again if Vlad's word proved false. Vlad rose slowly out of the ring of Spirits and flew away over the far bleachers. Only then did Lancer recombine with his duplicates and Danny relax out of his fighting stance.

Lancer ran a gloved hand over his head, feeling oddly mentally off-center. "One of us should accompany him to prove to your parents he's reformed," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Danny looked up at Lancer awkwardly. "Can you? I've sort of got this fan club..."

Lancer chuckled, "Sure," then turned towards FentonWorks and followed after Vlad.

Danny went invisible and headed down to where Sam and Cathy were climbing out of the bleachers cautiously. He turned back to human in the shadows and walked up behind them.

"Vlad's finally given up," he explained, causing both women to start slightly and whirl around. "He's going to apologize to my parents, and Lancer's gone with him as a mediator."

"Given up?" Sam asked incredulously. "Do you think he means it?"

Danny hesitated a moment, then said, "Yeah. I think he does. He's even willing to stop trying to kill Dad."

"Kill your dad?" Cathy repeated in horror. "Why was he trying to do that?" Vlad was obviously a very sick man. If he went back on his word, and Cathy was willing to bet he did that fairly frequently, then there was no telling what might happen. And William had just gone with him. _Alone_.

"So that Mom would marry him and he could get revenge for the accident that gave him his powers." Danny didn't sound particularly concerned about the whole thing. "No offense, Cathy, but what are you doing here, anyway?"

"I was in the area and heard the sounds of a fight. I was worried." Cathy adjusted her purse on her shoulder. "I should be getting back to the car, see how Dani's doing."

Danny and Sam both nodded and gave quick good-byes. Then Sam filled him in on the actions of his Fan Club and they headed off towards the crowd of girls (and Tucker). About a minute later, they were close enough for Sam to call out, "Hey everyone! I found Danny!"

"Eww, you two weren't making out, were you?" Paulina asked. A few other girls made disgusted faces at the idea.

"And miss one of Phantom's fights?" Sam asked with mock incredulity. "What kind of fans do you take us for?"

"I was hiding," Danny explained. "My parents don't like me out in the open during a fight. I was in the bleachers, over there. Sam just came looking for me." He pointed back the way he'd come.

"Well, you missed the Phantom Cheer," the cheerleader sniffed in response. "And we got a better view than you did." _How can I pull the favour if they're not around?_

Danny laughed nervously. "I dunno. I had a pretty clear view of things too."

"Well _I_," Sam announced loud enough for everyone to hear, "think that Phantom was absolutely amazing just now." Danny blushed, but no one noticed because Star had misinterpreted Sam's baiting as brown-nosing and was pushing through the crowd of girls to where Sam and Danny were standing.

"Well, I think that was the best fight he's _ever_ been in!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that..." Danny started, nervous. Sam squeezed his hand in reassurance and muttered, "Shh. Just let them" underneath the hubbub that Star had started.

Paulina realized that she'd lost control of the situation, which wasn't fitting for a club president. In her best cheerleading voice, she yelled, "Hey, who's up for collecting souvenirs?" and pointed sharply at the destroyed section of bleachers. The club immediately stopped fighting, squealed, and stampeded in that direction.

"Not you, losers," the Latina added darkly. "We need to talk."

Danny and Sam froze where they were and turned around slowly.

"Yes?" Sam's jaws were clenched as she forced the word through it.

"I understand you want to obey your parents," Paulina said stiffly, "but you've got to participate if you're part of the club. At least hide near us, if you've got to, Fenton. And Manson, you don't need to keep him company. I expect you to cheer with the rest of us next time. Got it?"

"What if we say no?" Sam challenged, crossing her arms. "I _don't_ cheer."

"Then you're all out of the club," Paulina snarled, "even if Phantom says no."

"Well," Sam shot back, "if you're just going to impose your beliefs on everyone and try to run our lives for us, maybe we don't want to be in the club at all. It's not like we asked to join, anyways."

"But Phantom..."

"Forget Phantom! Do you think he'd want us in if he knew we were being treated like this? Either you treat us like anyone else, or we leave. End of story."

_This is getting out of control_, thought Paulina. _I've got to stop it before it goes further. _"Do you want to take this outside?" Paulina glared daggers at the goth, who matched her stance perfectly.

"You're on, princess." Sam grabbed the cheerleader's wrist and hauled her struggling captive away behind the bleachers. Danny blinked, decided not to follow them, and went to stand beside Tucker and stare in disbelief at the fangirls collecting splintered wood and bits of plastic.

When they were out of sight, Sam let go of Paulina and crossed her arms again. "Are you really that stuck on Phantom you'll do anything he wants so that he might notice you?" she asked hotly.

"That wasn't my reason for asking you to join, Sam," Paulina answered quietly.

"Oh _really_... wait, did you just call me _Sam_?" Paulina was definitely not acting normal. "Are you sure you're not being overshadowed or something?"

"No, of course not," Paulina scoffed. "I just thought ... well, if you're in the club now, we could be friends?"

"Friends." Sam didn't believe what she was hearing. "You want to be friends with me?"

"Couldn't we be? I mean, we've got common interests..."

"Like how you're a prep and I'm a goth?"

"Like how we both like Phantom," Paulina corrected.

"Oh come _on_." Sam rolled her eyes. "Like that's ever..." Paulina cut her off by placing a hand on Sam's black-clad shoulder.

"Look, Sam," she said sternly, "I know I was awful to you and your friends when we were freshmen, and you've got a grudge because of it. But I'm older now, and I'm starting to realize how shallow everyone around me is, and I know I'm pretty shallow too, but I don't want to stay that way. I want real friends, and I don't want to end up like _mi mama_. So, I know I pulled all that stuff about Phantom wanting you in, and that's true, but I only said it 'cause I thought you wouldn't join otherwise. But I also thought, maybe if I invited you in, did you a favour…?"

Sam blinked. "Did you seriously just say all that, to _me_? And you're _not_ being overshadowed?"

"No!"

"So you want to be friends with me and Danny and Tucker because we'll actually be friends and not ditch you later on?"

"_Si_." Paulina shifted nervously. "Look, like I said, I'm sorry for being mean but that's what everyone expects of me. I've got to keep the image."

"Why?" Sam asked sharply.

"Because I'm pretty and I'm popular and..."

"And you don't want to be anymore," interrupted Sam. "So, first act of friendship, I give you a personality makeover this Saturday?" She gave a warm smile, though her eyelid twitched slightly.

"So we're friends?" Paulina asked hopefully.

"You and me, sort of, anyway." Sam's eyes flickered to the crowd of fangirls, who'd apparently stopped collecting pieces for their shrines and were huddled close together looking at something. "I'm not gonna speak for the guys. And don't count on hanging out with me a lot. Got it?"

Paulina nodded. That was a start, anyway. Sam had a good heart, despite appearances. "Okay," she said to the goth. "We should probably get back before your boyfriend gets worried."

"He's not... going to worry."

They returned to see Tucker doing something complicated involving a PDA and Star's camera phone. When he noticed their presence, he gestured to the setup and smiled.

"Just downloading a video of the fight, Sam. Danny's idea." Danny shrugged to let Sam know he really was okay with it.

"Pity Tuck can't get sound though," he added for good measure. Sam merely nodded and slipped her hand into his, because it was expected. A minute later the download was complete and everyone was clustered around Star watching the fight in slow mo. A few more minutes, and everyone was debating what had actually happened in the air.

"They never talk to the other ghosts like that!" one girl complained. "There wasn't even witty banter!"

"Maybe they're trying to talk them out of attacking?" someone else suggested.

"So why did Spirit follow him?"

"To make sure?"

"But that was Phantom's archenemy!" Paulina pointed out. "Why would you just talk to your enemy like that, and let someone else go after him?"

"'Cause Spirit can duplicate and he'd have the advantage?" Tucker suggested.

"But still, how come they were talking?" Star asked. "They weren't even _angry_! And after a beating like that..."

The rest of the club winced and nodded, Danny included. He knew there were going to be some nasty bruises in a few hours.

"So they kept their tempers this time," Sam interjected. "How is that a bad thing? If they can deal with ghosts without a lot of violence, I'm all for it."

She spoke with enough finality that no one really felt like arguing the point further, and the conversation shifted to Phantom's fighting moves and then to his muscles and his dreamy personality. Danny spent the time alternatively snickering and blushing, while desperately trying not to. Fortunately for him, the fangirls were so into the conversation that they didn't notice, though he'd come up with a few excuses just in case.

---

"So Paulina wants to be _friends_?" Tucker asked incredulously as the trio left the fan club meeting and started for home. Sam had just relayed the gist of the private conversation she'd had with the prep, and the boys were stunned.

"And you're spending Saturday with her?" Danny looked concerned.

"_Yes_," Sam answered tensely. "Seems like she really wants to change, and you've gotta admit she's not as mean to us as before. Maybe it's time to give her a chance." She shrugged. "Besides, it might give us more of an edge over the fan club."

"Or more trouble," Danny pointed out. "What if she finds out?"

"Hey, if you managed to keep it from Val when you two were dating, you can keep it from Paulina," Tucker said nonchalantly. "We can just say she's got to really earn our trust before she can hang with us all the time." He jabbed his touchpen at his PDA, calculating stats from the fight with Vlad.

"I guess so." Danny sighed, and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"So want to enlighten me on what happened with Vlad?" Tucker asked.

"Sure. He seems to have reformed, or want to reform, or something like that. He's not going to target Team Phantom anymore, that's certain. Knows we're too strong together now." Danny grinned. "He's gone to apologize to Mom and Dad. Lancer went to make sure things went smoothly."

Tucker nodded. "Okay, as long as you guys know what you're doing..." He stashed his PDA in the pocket of his green cargo pants and squared his shoulders. "I'd better go find Valerie and tell her what's happened. See you two later!"

He headed off towards the Nasty Burger to begin his search, leaving Sam and Danny alone together. They continued walking silently for a while, both feeling lost in their own thoughts. Danny felt incredibly awkward being alone with Sam. It had been so good holding hands with her, but now he didn't have the excuse of being her boyfriend, and she would probably hit him if he tried anything. Sure, that was physical contact too, but it wasn't the same. The half-ghost snuck a wistful look over at his friend, trying to capture the way she'd looked with him today so he could remember it later.

_Sam's so pretty, maybe even hot,_ he mused._ I wish she felt about me like I feel about her. And I wish I knew how to win her too. Today was fun, even if it _was_ kinda embarrassing, but she probably doesn't even want to be with me. I mean, she liked Gregor until she found out he was a jerk, and I could never be like him. Heh, I feel like Lancer when he was making eyes at Cathy at the mall this weekend. Well, except for the fact that she likes him back. He is so clueless._

That term made Danny pause. _Wait. Clueless Two... Clueless One... Is that why they call me that? Does Sam like me and I've never noticed? But that's imposs..._

Danny took another look at Sam and noticed that she seemed a little sadder and more withdrawn than usual. Was she just as unhappy as him about the "dating" being over? Danny looked away again, and fell back into thought. Sam had always been there for him, making excuses, tending wounds, cheering him up. It had been her idea to start dating to get back at Vlad, not his, and she'd seemed really happy when he'd agreed to the ruse.

"Danny? You okay?"

Danny shook himself out of his thoughts and realized that they'd stopped in front of Sam's house. He laughed nervously to reassure her.

"Yeah, just thinking."

"I noticed. Well, I guess I'll see you later, huh? Call me if there's a meeting or something." She headed up the front steps. Danny followed her, and she turned around questioningly.

He swallowed, and blurted out, "I mean, I was thinking about you...us, and this whole dating thing. Sam, I know we were doing it to get at Vlad, but do you maybe want to continue? Um, if it's okay with, I wouldn't want to impose or anything, and if you don't feel that way, I'll understand..." Sam punched his arm playfully.

"You are such a spaz," she teased. "Of course I will. Paulina will hate me."

"And after you just started to be friends with her, too..." Danny teased back, wrapping an arm around her waist. "You want to go somewhere, do something together maybe?"

"Sure." Sam shrugged. Danny looked around quickly and went ghost. He made sure he had a good hold on his girlfriend, and took to the air. There was this little spot on Amity Island he thought she'd like.


	10. Relationships

_Thanks to HiddenAuthor, egyptianqueen777, Golden Pantha, YumeTakato, wfea, Snickerer for their attention._

**Chapter 10: Relationships**

_I don't own __Danny Phantom__ or the __William Tell Overture_

Cathy Martin left the movie theatre with a fourteen-year-old girl in tow and turned on her cellphone again. A moment later, the _William Tell Overture_ began playing and she answered.

"Hello?"

"Cathy!" came Lancer's frantic voice. "I was starting to worry."

Cathy rolled her eyes. _As if I wasn't worried when you just took off after the fruitloop like that. _

"I took Dani to _Vampire Zombies from Mars III_," she said casually. "We just got out." She cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she rummaged in her purse for her keys. "What's up?"

"Can you bring Dani over to FentonWorks, please? We need to discuss her future."

Cathy unlocked the passenger door and moved around to the other side of the car. "You make that sound so _serious_. Okay, I'll bring her now. Where is it exactly?"

"Corner of King and Rice. You can't miss it." He hung up, and Cathy did so as well a moment later. She climbed into the car and buckled in.

"That was William. I'm supposed to take you to FentonWorks."

"Okay!" Dani was still coming off the high of the movie and was grinning with excitement. "I can tell Danny about the movie. I bet he'll want to see it."

"I'm sure." Cathy smiled as she pulled out of the parking lot and tried to remember which direction King Avenue was in.

She pulled up across the street from Danny's house six minutes later and Dani was out and running for the door before Cathy even shut off the engine. The girl had rung the Fenton Doorbell by the time Cathy locked her car behind her, and an auburn-haired woman in a blue jumpsuit had answered by the time Cathy had crossed the street.

"Dani!" the woman exclaimed. "How are you, sweetie?" She straightened the girl's top after she answered and stepped aside to let her in. Then she looked up and noticed the older woman standing on the sidewalk and gave her a welcoming smile.

"You must be Cathy. I'm Maddie, Danny's mother. You'll want to be part of this discussion too, I think. Come on in."

---

The living room was just inside the front door, Cathy discovered, and she did a quick scan of the room as she slipped off her coat.

Lancer was seated at one end of a couch to the left of the door, his hands spread apart in front of him, and a small red ball was moving between them. On his face was a look of intense concentration, which broke when he noticed Cathy. The ball hit the floor and rolled under the couch. He blushed slightly, and Cathy smiled, then shifted her eyes to take in the rest of the room.

Vlad was seated on the opposite end of the same couch, apparently lost in his own world, while an overweight man in an orange jumpsuit, presumably Danny's father, sat on another, doing needlepoint, of all things. Dani was standing in the middle of the room glowering at Vlad distrustfully. Maddie was standing just behind her, and as Cathy hung her coat on a hook, placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and bent down to her ear.

"He's reformed," she said quietly. "Or he's trying to. Give him a second chance, Dani."

"He wants to take me back, doesn't he?" Dani muttered back.

Jack overheard her answer and grinned. "That's why you're here. We need to decide who you're gonna stay with!"

Dani paled a little, and edged around the room to sit beside Danny's father, and Maddie sat on the girl's other side protectively. Cathy dropped her purse next to the shoes by the door and took a seat on the couch nearest Lancer. The whole room was awkwardly hushed, except for a faint humming coming from Vlad.

"We're just waiting for Danny and his friends," Maddie explained to Cathy, her voice sounding loud in the silence. "They shouldn't be long."

The doorbell moaned at that moment and Maddie got up again to let a tall African-American boy and a somewhat shorter girl with a similar skin tone inside. The boy took a seat next to Cathy and introduced himself as Tucker. Then he pulled out a PDA and began doing some calculations on it. The girl quietly took a seat against the entertainment center, produced a large red ring, and began to spin it on a finger. It looked to Cathy as though she was practicing battle moves.

A minute or so later there was a muffled thump on the floor above, followed by the sound of laughter. Danny came downstairs a moment later, slightly flushed and grinning. Sam, whose hand he was holding, looked much the same. Their hair was windswept, which confirmed Cathy's suspicion that they'd flown here. Tucker looked up from his PDA.

"You guys know there's no need to keep faking, right?" he asked curiously.

Danny grinned. "Who said anything about faking?"

The question threw the room into temporary chaos. Jack Fenton leapt up from his seat with a cry of, "It's about time!" and the needlepoint went flying, almost impaling Vlad's leg. Vlad dodged Jack's needlepoint, then settled back with a smile on his face and waited for everyone to finish. Tucker nearly dropped his PDA, and Valerie fumbled her battle-ring. Maddie ran over and hugged the couple proudly. Dani started grinning, looking noticeably relieved. Lancer simply looked pleased, though Cathy thought she caught an undertone of regret in his expression as well. Not knowing the situation since it had looked to her like Danny and Sam had been dating for a while,Cathy just sat and watched the others' reactions.

Finally the congratulations were over and everyone started to get down to business. Vlad straightened up in his seat, crossing his legs casually and clasping his hands around a knee. When he spoke, his voice had none of the harsh edges it usually carried.

"I think for the benefit of everyone who recently arrived, I should explain what has been worked out regarding my relationship to the Fentons and the rest of Team Phantom," he began. "Essentially, I have realized that I can do much better than attacking you and that I am in fact wasting my considerable talents in doing so."

Most of the people in the room exchanged amused but worried glances.

"Since I am moving on," Vlad went on, "I see no reason why I cannot try to gain back your trust. I know I have done little in the past to merit it, but I hope that can change."

He paused and drew a breath, and continued looking slightly pained. "I have apologized to Jack and Maddie for all the trouble I've caused them and the grudge I've held for so long. In turn, they have agreed to give me a second chance at their friendship. I've also apologized to William for kidnapping and torturing him..."

Lancer twitched involuntarily and Cathy flinched in shock, sympathy, and understanding. Torture would _definitely_ explain his animosity towards Vlad.

"... and he's grudgingly accepted the apologies. I hope to receive the same from you, Daniel... Danny, eventually. I'm sorry for the plotting, the attacks, the kidnapping, everything. Can you forgive me?"

"I think so, Vlad," Danny answered stiffly, after a moment. "It's going to take a long time, though, and I'm not making promises."

"Thank you," the older halfa continued. "The same goes for Saman... Sam, Tucker, and Valerie." He paused to give the others a chance to speak if they chose. When they remained silent, he went on. "I would also like to say sorry to Danielle for, well, everything. I still have the blueprints for the stabilizing equipment that Danny destroyed, and would like to make amends by giving her full use of her powers."

"And make me your apprentice?" asked Dani edgily. "Don't think so."

"I want to see Dani stablized too," Danny interjected, "but you're not getting your hands on my DNA." He crossed his arms defiantly.

"Understood, Da-, Danny." Vlad sighed. "I wasn't expecting you to agree. Perhaps I could rebuild the machine, teach your parents to operate it, and let them stabilize her?" He looked over at the two adult Fentons for comfirmation.

Maddie nodded. "That sounds fair, Vlad, as long as we can double check everything beforehand. Would we take Dani in, then? Do you want to stay with us, sweetie?"

The clone fidgeted and shook her head. "That's not fair to you guys. You've already got Danny, and I'm not really your responsibility."

"Nonsense," Maddie said firmly. "We'd be glad to have you."

"I don't suppose that you'd be willing to stay with me, Dani, would you?" interrupted Vlad. "After all, if you're anyone's responsibility, you're mine."

"No." There was no arguing with the tone and Vlad held his hands up in defeat.

"I'd offer my place," Sam said, "but I don't know how long I'd be able to hide you and my parents wouldn't just go for it. Besides, they'd try to make you wear _pink_."

Dani shuddered at the thought. Then Tucker and Val apologized for not being able to take her in either, and the room fell silent.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here?" Danny asked after a while. "We're totally cool with it, and you liked it the other night, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," sighed Dani apologetically, "but you don't really seem like family to me. More like uncles and aunts or something. I dunno how fun you'd be to _live_ with."

Everyone in the room nodded in acceptance, then lapsed into thought again. A minute or so later, Lancer shifted and spoke hesitantly.

"I have a spare bedroom too, and I've already been looking after her. It wouldn't be any trouble having Dani stay with me."

The occupants of the room considered the possibility, except for Cathy, who had just started having an argument with herself.

_Spare _bedroom_? Is he tossing me out just like that? He invites me to stay for a while and now he doesn't want me around? And _he's_ been looking after her? _I'm_ the one who's spent the time getting to know the girl and taking her places. _

A quieter voice spoke up in her mind then. _But you knew you weren't going to stay forever, and it _is_ his apartment, not yours. He _did _bring her here, after all, and keep Vlad away._

_Yes_, said the first voice, _but then he left her with me, like he's done every day since._

_But he has a job, and a side-job. It only makes sense..._

_That doesn't matter. William's acting just like Matt and it's going to be the same thing all over again._

_What does it matter if you're not staying?_

_But I want … _Cathy cut the thought off sharply before it went any further. There was no point in thinking like that. Not here, not now.

"With you, William?" Vlad scoffed. "What do _you_ know about parenting?"

Lancer looked at him sharply. "What do _you_?"

"Oh. Good point..." Vlad scowled slightly and leaned back into the couch.

"Besides," Lancer continued huffily, "I'm a teacher. That has to count for something."

"But you haven't had kids of your own, William," Maddie said kindly. "Wouldn't it be better to have Dani with someone who's had experience?"

"But..." Lancer started. "I mean I ... uh... never mind." He blushed slightly and hung his head. There was another mass pause, and then Sam spoke up.

"Why don't we just let Dani — girl Dani — choose? She's heard all the arguments, and we want her to be somewhere she's comfortable, don't we?"

"All right," Jack said slowly. "I suppose that makes sense. Dani?" All eyes in the room turned to face the girl, who bit her lower lip in thought for a good minute before coming to a decision.

"I-I think I'd like to stay with, um, Mr. Lancer, if no one minds."

Lancer blinked and straightened up at the announcement. He'd somehow grown attached to the girl, which is why he'd suggested that his home be hers, but he'd never really thought... After the shock had worn off, he gasped out a weak, "Will, please."

Cathy's mood darkened further. _He's never asked for that sort of informality from me._

"Lancer?" Tucker was blown away. "Why Lancer?"

"Because he's been looking after me already, and he's kinda fun, and I feel comfortable there," Dani said firmly. _And Cathy's cool, and he's protective. If Vlad comes after me (hope not), I'm safe with Lancer. Will._

Lancer smiled. Even though he shouldn't have been pleased that Dani had chosen him over who were technically her biological parents, he was. Dani was a good kid, and if she saw him as family... Cathy wasn't looking too happy, though. Didn't she like the girl? Lancer thought she did, but her expression was scaring him.

Lancer cleared his throat nervously and spoke. "Well, I suppose that's settled, then. Is there anything else we need to discuss as a group?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Lancer took that as a cue to stand up and retrieve his coat from the hook by the door. The others got up too, Vlad as well, and Cathy and Dani joined Lancer by the door. Dani received hugs from everybody except Vlad, who stood a ways off and simply nodded at the girl. Cathy placed her hand on the doorknob, and turned to Lancer, who'd drifted off into thought.

"William? You coming?"

"Uh... No, actually. I'm thinking I should probably talk about the stabilization stuff, seeing as I'm Dani's guardian now. And then I've got to fly downtown and pick up the car..."

Maddie interrupted him. "Go home, William. You've had a long day, and Vlad will still be here in the morning. We can talk shop later."

Lancer gratefully nodded, and turned back to Cathy. "I'll still need to go get the car, and now it's rush hour so I'll be a while. You don't mind heading back without me, do you?"

"Of _course_ not," Cathy said darkly. "Come on, Dani." The two of them left the house, Dani waving, and crossed the street to Cathy's car. Tucker and Val followed them down the steps, slipped into the nearest alley, and left by air a moment later.

Cathy unlocked Dani's door for her, and moved around to her side of the vehicle, still feeling put out. _Here I am, left with the child, and not so much as a thank you. Why am I doing this _again

She managed to bury her emotions, and the rapidly evolving chain of thoughts that accompanied them, by the time she opened the driver's side door. There was no point ruining the best day of Dani's life with her own problems.

---

Lancer returned to his apartment about an hour behind Cathy and Dani. He'd just slipped his key into the door when it was forcefully pulled open by a woman carrying a medium-sized suitcase. She looked as though she'd been crying but was desperately pretending she hadn't been and pretty much succeeding.

"Cathy?" he asked, startled. She'd looked upset at FentonWorks, but _this_? Cathy _never_ cried. He knew he hadn't really spoken with Cathy today, and he probably should have, given everything that had happened yesterday. She'd seemed okay, but it was a lot of information to absorb. Or was it Matt? Had something happened? "What's wrong, Cath?"

"I've taken advantage of your hospitality too long, William," said Cathy levelly. "I wanted to believe that things were different than they are. That's why I came here. But they're just the same as always, and I need to get away from that. So I'm leaving. Thanks for letting me stay here. Keep fighting the good fight, William. You're doing good work here." She set her bag down and gave him a brief hug. "Goodbye."

She picked the suitcase up again and walked past him, leaving the door open behind her. Dazed, he walked into his apartment and got halfway through his routine before Cathy's speech began to process. He froze in the middle of placing his coat on the coat hook as memories began to flash through his head.

_He was looking at the poster for the first dance of the year and wishing he had a date. His best friend, Cathy Sanders, walked up and squeezed his shoulder gently. "You'll find one. Promise." Then she left again, just as he was opening his mouth._

_He was sitting in the school library, working on a paper, and Cathy came in with some girls from the cheering squad. He looked up and let his eyes follow her, tracing her curves, memorizing her smile. Her eyes flickered to him briefly, acknowledging him silently, but she was with her other friends, so he didn't do anything except look._

_He and Cathy were sitting at a table in the Nasty Burger on a Saturday afternoon, waiting for their friend Matt to arrive. Cathy was teasing him about being bookish and he was protesting. It was enjoyable, and stimulating to keep coming up with rebuttals. They'd gotten to a point where Lancer was relaxed enough that he was about to say what had been on his mind for the last year, when Matt finally arrived and Lancer froze again._

_It was Valentine's Day, 1973, and Lancer arrived at school with a large box of chocolates hidden in his bag. He had just gotten to Cathy's locker to place it inside when she turned the corner, holding hands with Matt Martin. Even though his heart sank at the sight, he forced a smile onto his face and greeted them. He ate the chocolates himself that night._

_He was sitting at a table, dressed in a yellow suit and watching everyone else at the senior prom enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Cathy hadn't even offered a pity dance to him like she usually did. She looked beautiful in her green gown and crown tonight, spinning across the dance floor with Matt._

_2004. A much older Lancer sat behind his desk at Casper High, watching the freshmen read the class novel he'd assigned the week before. Danny Fenton and Sam Manson kept shooting covert glances at each other. Lancer shook his head. It was so obvious they liked each other more than friends, so why did they insist they didn't? Sam had it the worst. In fact, she reminded Lancer a little of himself, once, always wanting what she couldn't have._

_Lancer stood in the gym doorway for a moment, watching Cathy order everyone around to set up for the reunion. She'd aged, of course, but the shimmer of her hair, her smile, the confident way she carried herself, it was almost like he was back in high school again. She was married now, though. He'd lost his chance._

_Lancer was sitting in the Fentons' living room, with Vlad and the rest of Team Phantom, apart from Danny and Sam. The two teens came downstairs hand in hand, Danny grinning from ear to ear and Sam looking happier than Lancer had ever seen her. Lancer smiled. Danny had finally gotten the courage to ask Sam out for real. Good for him._

"_You weren't doing so well...thought you could use some help."_

"_I've got a friend who'd be willing to listen to my ranting too."_

"_I plan on supporting you wholeheartedly."_

"_You seriously need to get out more."_

"_How can you _live_ like this, William, without any concern for your own well-being?"_

"_Suggested that I'm divorcing Matt for another guy."_

"_I wanted to believe that things were different than they are. That's why I came here."_

"_Clueless Two, this is Clueless One."_

Without another thought, Lancer drop his coat and ran straight through the door of his apartment and down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. He burst through the front door of the building and ran to the sidewalk, where Cathy was loading her suitcase in the trunk of her car. She looked up in surprise, and Lancer took a gulp of air, partly from the exertion, partly from nervousness, and partly from a bad case of dejà vu. Then he looked straight at her and spoke, the words almost running together at first.

"I love you. I've loved you ever since you kicked Eric Flynn in the kneecap for cheating off you in ninth grade. I thought I'd gotten past it once we lost contact, but I haven't. I'm saying this now because otherwise I'll regret it for the _next_ thirty years too." The words slowed down slightly as he got his courage up. "I needed to get that off my chest, Cathy, even if it doesn't make a difference. I hope you find a new life for yourself somewhere. Goodbye."

Lancer was almost halfway back up the walk again when he heard a soft, strained voice behind him.

"I gave up."

Lancer turned to see Cathy standing shakily beside her trunk, facing him.

"I waited a year for you to ask me out, and you never did. So when Matt asked, I said yes. I couldn't ask you myself, it wasn't proper for a girl to do it back then. I know it hurt you, Will, but I couldn't wait forever. I even thought at times I was imagining things that weren't there with you. I had to move on. I pushed it out of my mind. But the reunion..." She paused. "The reunion brought everything back, and I realized I still cared for you. And this past week or so, you never gave an indication past inviting me here that you cared for _me_. I didn't want to go through the waiting again."

"You were out of my league, Cathy," Lancer protested. "You're getting a divorce."

"You were the only guy I wouldn't have turned down the first time," Cathy retorted. "And as far as I'm concerned, I'm already single again."

"In that case, do you want to maybe stay a while longer?" Lancer's courage left him again. "Sorry, maybe that's moving too fast, I..."

Cathy's eyes glistened. "I'd love to, Will. I really would."

"Really?"

"Really." She tilted her head slightly to one side and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you just going to stand there?"

"What? No! Sorry." Lancer moved towards the car, flustered, and reached for Cathy's bags. Cathy looked at him oddly for a moment, then grabbed his arm.

"Not _that_, silly." She swung him around to face her. "_This_." With one swift movement she planted her lips on Lancer's. After he recovered from the shock, he kissed back, wrapping his free hand in the hair on the back of Cathy's head.

It was the best kiss either of them had ever had, and Lancer never wanted it to end.

**The End**

_All right, so that's the fourth fully revised Spirit story to date and I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a hiatus on the fifth, __The Tempest__. I'm heading home for the summer in a few days, since college is officially over (forever!). I'm going to be working and writing original stuff for the most part, and I'll have somewhat limited net access too. So, the plan is to have the revised __Tempest__ done for the fall, along with whatever other fanfics I'm able to sneak in (I haven't forgotten about __Ghost of Myself__, promise!), and I'll be spamming inboxes then. Before then, however, you probably won't be hearing all that much from me._

_See you all around later,_

_Esme_


End file.
